LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Wise, the British financial technology firm previously known as TransferWise, said on Thursday it plans to go public with the first direct listing on London's main market.
The London-based payments app founded in 2010 by two Estonian entrepreneurs, said it is opting to list without raising any funds, in a boost to the British government's aspirations to attract more technology firms.
Apart from the London Stock Exchange itself, no company has ever listed directly on London's main market, although the method has been used by Spotify, Coinbase and Slack to go public in New York.
Stock market listings in Europe have had a volatile few months, with at least four initial public offerings (IPO) cancelled in recent weeks as investors have become more selective after a record first-half for floats.
Deliveroo and Alphawave both tanked on their London market debuts, and are still trading well below their listing prices.
"Wise is used to challenging convention, and this listing is no exception. A direct listing allows us a cheaper and more transparent way to broaden Wise's ownership, aligned with our mission," its co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann said.
The company declined to comment on its possible valuation after sources told Reuters in April it could be worth between $6 billion and $7 billion, making it potentially one of the biggest floats this year.
The listing is expected to be finalised on July 5, with Wise aiming for a freefloat of at least 25%, a bookrunner said.
Wise said that it has been profitable since 2017, with a 54% annual revenue growth rate over the last three years, reaching 421 million pounds ($589 million) in overall sales in 2021.
It added in a statement that it had moved 54.4 billion pounds across borders for 6 million customers worldwide in 2021 so far and processes 5 billion pounds in cross-border transactions every month.
TransferWise became popular by offering a more user-friendly and less costly alternative for international transfers and over the past few years has been expanding the services it offers to include multi-currency accounts.
It has also received regulatory approval to offer investment services in the UK.
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