Zopa plans £100m fundraise ahead of stock market float
The world’s oldest peer-to-peer lender is set to become the latest fintech unicorn as it prepares a fundraise ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).
Zopa is reported to have hired JP Morgan to help with a £100m funding round that would be its last before going public.
Sky News reports that this would value the P2P lender-turned-bank at more than £500m and push it toward becoming a unicorn with a £1bn valuation.
Zopa group chief executive Jaidev Janardana (pictured) said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph last month that the platform is planning to list in London next year or in early 2023.
He said he wasn’t worried about the recent stock market debut of tech firm Deliveroo, which saw its share price crash by 25 per cent on the first day of trading – wiping £2bn off its valuation.
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“We think the London market is a good market, it’s a deep market,” Janardana said.
“We are a UK focused company and so that’s going to be the most likely location.”
There has long been speculation around a possible Zopa flotation. A Sky News report in 2018 suggested that Zopa was looking to raise money ahead of a stock market listing.
Janardana also said in the Bloomberg interview that the firm was considering going public in early 2021 but this didn’t materialise amid the pandemic.
Zopa would join rival P2P lender Funding Circle on the London Stock Exchange.
The platform has been asked for comment.