Klarna confirms second hit at New York listing in snub to London
Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna has launched its second hit at a listing on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial attempt was derailed by President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.
The buy now, pay later giant said its IPO price is expected to be between $35 and $37 per ordinary share and hopes to raise up to $1.27bn.
The firm was expected to be targeting a valuation of between $13bn and $14bn.
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are all working with the fintech on the listing.
Reeves’ push for fintech listings falters
The news comes amid a bruising day for City markets, with gilt yields soaring and the pound dropping.
Whilst Klarna’s intention to float in the US was well known, the decision is bound to pour salt in the wound as City officials hoped to attract fintech firms to the market.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves laid out the government’s plans to make the UK the world leader in fintech in the Treasury’s Growth and Financial Services Competitiveness Strategy.
The Treasury is set to work in tandem with the Office for Investment and industry to establish a ‘Listings Taskforce’ to attract “the best and brightest business from around the world” to float in London.
Klarna’s move into a listing comes as the company lays out plans to become a digital bank.
The firm received an electronic money institution licence from the Financial Conduct Authority, setting the firm up to compete with UK firms Monzo and Revolut.
The licence allows Klarna to offer its 11 million UK customers savings accounts and also paves the way for a debit card launch.
The business recorded a jump in losses for the second quarter as provisions for possible bad loans climbed higher.
Klarna posted a 64 per cent surge in provisions to $174m (£128m), up from $106m for the same period in 2024.
But the company said credit losses for the period fell 0.56 per cent of gross merchandise volume (GMV) – which refers total sales value of everything sold on a platform before any fees or costs are taken out. GMV jumped 19 per cent to $31.2bn.