Revolut will not go public until 2028 at the earliest - Storonsky

The CEO of UK fintech Revolut, Nick Storonsky, said he plans to take the digital bank public, but not until 2028.

"It [the IPO] is two years away," said Storonsky, commenting on Revolut's potential listing in an interview on Bloomberg's "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations." "We are a bank, and trust is critical for a bank. Public companies are trusted more than private companies," Storonsky emphasized.

Revolut, he said, will also consider conducting new rounds of secondary stock sales before going public. Revolut typically conducts such deals every one to two years, Bloomberg writes, noting that secondary deals provide liquidity for early investors and employees who hold shares in the company and allow Revolut to stay private longer and tend to boost fintech valuations.

In February, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that Revolut is considering a new sale of shares this year. As a result of this round of financing, the bank may receive a valuation of at least $100 bln, Bloomberg pointed out. At the same time, the agency's interlocutors noted that in the event of a possible listing Revolut expects a valuation of at least $150 bln. The most recent secondary transaction, completed in November, valued the fintech at $75 bln, compared to $45 bln a year earlier.

Storonsky's comments put to rest speculation that the fintech company backed by AI chipmaker Nvidia and investment firm Coatue Management could list as early as this year or remain private indefinitely, Bloomberg points out. That Revolut is among British fintech companies that could "list in New York in the coming years," Sky News reported last year.

Revolut applied for a banking license in the US in early March and appointed former Visa senior executive Cetin Duransoy to oversee the region. Revolut has had a pilot unit in the US since 2020, working with partner banks to serve customers. The company first talked about applying for a U.S. banking license in 2021, but put those efforts on hold to focus on getting approval for a similar permit from U.K. regulators, which the company eventually received in March.

Storonsky noted that obtaining a license in the U.S., which would allow Revolut to directly access the Federal Reserve's payment systems and offer consumer loans and credit cards, could take up to a year. However, the company's management has set an ambitious goal of obtaining a U.S. license in as little as four months.

"Obviously, it's much easier for us now, given the new administration and the fact that we have a lot of other banking licenses and a license in the U.K.," Storonsky said when asked if he was confident Revolut would get a U.S. license.

Revolut, founded in 2015, operates today as a digital bank, offering customers current and savings accounts, international transfers, cryptocurrency and stock transactions, as well as tools for bill payment and budget management.

In late January, Revolut announced the launch of full banking operations in Mexico, which it had previously named as one of its key global markets. This is the first Revolut bank the company has opened outside of Europe. In addition, Revolut applied for a banking license in Peru in January.

Past offerings of Revolut shares were held with notable excitement: investor demand significantly exceeded supply, Bloomberg noted. This allowed the company to conduct several additional rounds, during which ex-employees were able to successfully cash out their securities.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor