Two major fintechs made moves towards initial public offerings this week, foreshadowing what may be a robust year ahead for the industry. Clearing firm Apex Fintech said on Tuesday it has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. Meanwhile, Danish fintech Pleo has appointed a new chief financial officer, in a signal the company is readying itself for its own IPO.
Founded in 2012, Apex offers digital clearing, custody, execution, and routing solutions to financial institutions. This would be the second time that it has embarked on the IPO process. The firm had hoped to go public in 2021 via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Northern Star Investment Corp II, but the deal fell through.
Apex CEO Bill Capuzzi had said at a conference last September that the fintech firm might consider an IPO if the markets improved. “The path for us, if the markets come back around over the course of the next 24 months, maybe we’ll take another run at going public,” he said. Apparently, he’s seen enough strength to warrant an offering.
Pleo, which has been called Europe’s premier spend management platform, recently achieved unicorn status, reaching a $1 billion valuation in just over six years. While the company says it is not in a rush to go public, a new CFO often indicates that its accounting and compliance teams are also ramping up in preparation for a stock offering.
Jeppe Rindom, Pleo’s CEO, told CNBC that “no definitive plans have been set in motion.” But he added that it’s “only prudent” to start thinking about the question of an eventual IPO, which could be happening by 2025.
Other IPOs in the Offing
Digital payment processing company Stripe has also filed paperwork showing its intent to make a public offering, with a valuation hovering around $50 billion. No IPO date has been set yet, but the offering has been hotly anticipated for several years now.
Waiting on deck are Klarna, the Swedish online payment services firm, and Chime, a banking platform targeted to younger people. In November, Klarna started the process of setting up a holding company in the UK, which many see as a precursor to an IPO. Chime explored an IPO in 2022 before pulling back, but many stock watchers expect a stock offering in the coming months.
