Finablr plans to raise $200M in London IPO

dubai — Finablr, a leading global platform for payment and remittance solutions, announced on Tuesday its potential intention to undertake an initial public offering on London Stock Exchange.

The IPO will comprise new shares to be issued by the company to raise gross proceeds of $200 million and an offer of existing shares to be sold by certain existing shareholders, the size of which has not be revealed. However, quoting certain sources news agencies had reported that the IPO would raise $500 million for the UAE-based conglomerate comprising global payment and foreign exchange brands UAE Exchange, Travelex Holdings and Xpress Money.

Finablr said it intends to have a free float of at least 25 per cent of its issued share capital immediately following admission and expects that it would be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices. “It is expected that up to a further 15 per cent of the IPO will be made available pursuant to the over-allotment option.”

Dr B. R. Shetty, founder, cochairman and non-executive director of Finablr, said the strength of the home-grown global brand came from four decades of experience and the trust that millions of customers have placed with it.

“Our goal is quite simply to enable consumers to realise their ambitions and business to fulfil its potential. As a group, we have always been highly entrepreneurial and our success comes from a concerted focus on putting the customer at the centre, serving them in the way they want to be served.

“We have tremendous opportunities ahead of us and we are well placed to capture these, through the significant investments we have made in building capabilities and the strong management team we have put in place. I am very excited about what we have built and this is the right time to consider the future growth of Finablr and whether the business would benefit from becoming a listed company,” said Dr Shetty.

Promoth Manghat, Group Chief Executive Officer of Finablr, said at a media conference that the group intended to use the net proceeds from the issue of the new shares to finance further expansion plans and reduce net debt.

In 2018, Finablr processed more than 150 million transactions and$114.5 billion in volumes, touching over a billion lives.

The group has more than 23 million retail customers and serves over 1,500 corporate and institutional partners. “The globalisation of commerce fuelled by mobility, the increasing demand for seamless payments and the creation of connected communities are all structural drivers for growth. At Finablr, our integrated global platform sits at the centre of these intersecting trends. Together with our multiple customer touchpoints, encompassing both individuals and businesses, this puts us in a powerful position to deliver sustainable growth,” said Manghat.

He said the key Finablr differentiator is operating right across the global payments value chain, supported by agile and scalable technology. “From origination to processing to distribution, we own it — we believe that puts us in a fundamentally different place to anyone else in the market.”

The IPO will position the group for its next stage of development by enhancing its public profile and brand awareness while creating a liquid market in the shares, Finablr said.

Barclays Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Securities are global coordinators and joint bookrunners while EFG-Hermes, Merrill Lynch and Numis Securities will be joint bookrunners.