OPay, a fintech service backed by SoftBank, has abandoned its IPO following the pricing round
OPay had planned to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday
Nigerian fintech startup OPay decided not to proceed with its IPO, citing a request from the regulator / Photo: Koshiro K / Shutterstock.com
The African fintech startup OPay has decided not to proceed with its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a filing the company submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The decision was made after receiving a request from the regulator, OPay reported. The startup did not disclose any details in its statement—it merely noted that the request “pertains to a jurisdiction that is not material to the company’s operations.”
“The company is confident that this matter will be resolved in the near future,” OPay said. “However, after carefully reviewing the situation and consulting with the underwriters, the company has concluded that canceling the stock offering at this stage would be the most prudent course of action.”
Context
OPay was founded in 2018 and raised investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2021. The fintech company is registered in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Singapore, but Nigeria remains OPay’s main market: in the first half of 2026, it accounted for 89.5% of revenue. The service also operates in Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
OPay's IPO was set to be one of the most high-profile listings of fintech companies from emerging markets in New York this year, according to Bloomberg. OPay was expected to debut with a valuation of about $4 billion.
Trading in the securities was scheduled to begin on Friday, October 30. The day before, OPay set the offering price for its depositary receipts at $19 per share. On Friday, as of 2:00 p.m. New York time, the receipts were indicatively priced in the range of $16.25–16.75, but trading never began. At 3:30 p.m., the New York Stock Exchange’s ticker displayed a trading halt with a note regarding expected news, though no executed trades appeared on the ticker, according to Bloomberg.
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Bank acted as underwriters for the IPO. Standard Bank referred the request for comment to the company itself; Citigroup declined to comment; and Deutsche Bank did not respond to Bloomberg’s request.
Last week, Freedom accepted applications to participate in the preliminary auction of OPay Limited shares on its platform. The company announced that the exchange will reverse the transactions and refund the commissions paid.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
