Zopa plans £200m fundraise ahead of bank launch and IPO

ZOPA is reportedly looking to raise up to £200m as it gears up for its bank launch and a possible stockmarket flotation.

The peer-to-peer consumer lender is in talks with private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds about the fresh funding, which could be secured in the next few months, chief executive Jaidev Janardana (pictured) told Bloomberg.

The firm raised £60m last November to help fund the capital needs for its new bank, following a £44m fundraise earlier in the year.

Zopa was granted a provisional banking licence last December, giving it a year to prove that it can meet conditions set by the regulators.

Zopa has previously said that its first banking products will be a fixed-term savings account, credit card and money management app.

Janardana also said in the Bloomberg interview that the firm is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in early 2021.

There has been mounting speculation around a possible Zopa flotation. A Sky News report last year suggested that Zopa was looking to raise money ahead of a stock market listing.

If Zopa does float on the stock market by its intended timeframe, it is likely to be the second UK peer-to-peer lender to do so.

Fellow ‘big three’ P2P lender Funding Circle floated on the London Stock Exchange last October and has had a rather bumpy start to public life. Its share price, which has been volatile since the IPO, plunged by more than 27 per cent on Tuesday after a half-year update revealed a downgrade to 2019 revenue growth guidance.

Zopa declined to comment further on the Bloomberg report.