Revolut has secured a $45 billion (€41 billion) valuation in a share sale by employees, defying a wider downturn across fintechs and cementing its status as Europe’s most valuable start-up.
The UK fintech said on Friday that Coatue, D1 Capital Partners and Tiger Global were among the institutional investors who bought the shares from employees.
“We’re delighted to provide the opportunity to our employees to realise the benefits of the company’s collective success,” said Chief executive Nikolay Storonsky.
The valuation is higher than the $33 billion Revolut achieved in a 2021 fundraising led by SoftBank and Tiger Global.
The latest figure will make Revolut’s eventual IPO even more sought-after by global stock exchanges. The UK Treasury has planned talks with the company in the autumn in a bid to convince it choose a listing in London over New York.
According to one person with direct knowledge of the assessment, the fintech continues to favour a potential float on the Nasdaq.
Revolut co-founders Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko told media last year, when the fintech was still in regulatory limbo, that they would prefer to keep the company in private hands but that in the event of a flotation they would be likely to choose New York.
The London stock exchange “is much less liquid so I just don’t see the point”, said Storonsky at the time.
The sale of shares by employees comes after Revolut was awarded a UK banking licence last month, ending more than three years of wrangling with regulators and paving the way for the company to expand in its domestic market.
Despite its prolonged wait for a UK licence, Revolut already has more than 45mn customers globally. In the UK, where it was founded in 2015, the company has about 9 million.
Revolut already has a European banking licence from authorities in Lithuania and was granted one in Mexico this year.
However, securing the coveted UK licence has been seen as a vote confidence that will boost Revolut’s chances of becoming regulated as a bank in other markets such as the US. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024