Klarna Aims to Raise $1.27 Billion in Revived IPO, Valuing BNPL Giant at Up to $14 Billion
Klarna, a Swedish buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) startup, is resurrecting its initial public offering (IPO), aiming to raise up to $1.27 billion in a listing that could value the company at approximately $14 billion.
The company and some of its shareholders are jointly offering around 34.3 million shares, priced between $35 and $37 each, according to an update to its registration statement on Tuesday. Klarna will receive proceeds from roughly 5.6 million shares, while the remaining nearly 29 million shares will be offloaded by shareholders.
The company intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “KLAR.”
Anticipated for public listing due to the monumental success of its BNPL lending model following the post-pandemic surge, Klarna achieved a valuation exceeding $45 billion in 2021. However, the company delayed its IPO plans as the market fluctuated towards the end of the Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) era, with its price tag dropping by 85% to $6.5 billion when the 2021 venture capital valuation bubble burst.
Despite the market volatility, Klarna has continued to thrive: revenue increased by 54% to $823 million in the second quarter compared to the previous year, due in part to a 14% growth in gross merchandise value to $6.9 billion. Although the company still reports a net loss of $53 million, this figure represents a 42% decrease from its net loss of $92 million a year earlier.
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley are managing the offering, with BoFA Securities, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, UBS, and several other banks also working on the deal.
