(Bloomberg) -- Klarna Group Plc has added around 12 banks to the list of firms working on its US initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG have been selected as so-called joint bookrunners on the Stockholm-based digital payments company’s listing, the people said. Other banks have been tapped for junior roles on the IPO, the people said.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are leading work on the New York listing, which may take place as soon as in the first half of 2025, Bloomberg News has reported.
Preparations are ongoing, details of the offering may change and other banks could still be added, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Representatives for Klarna, Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
The filling out of the bank roster comes as US IPOs are poised for a wave of listings delayed by factors including the election in November. Companies are looking to present compelling financial performance, with Klarna reporting it is nearing profitability. The company had a pretax loss of 2 million kronor ($182,100) in the first nine months of 2024, versus 1.77 billion kronor in the same period last year, according to a statement.
Analysts have recently pegged the company’s valuation at about $14.6 billion. Klarna has around 85 million customers around the world and about 600,000 retail partners.
If successful, the IPO will encourage other fintech groups to go public, as companies in the sector recover from the fastest escalation in borrowing costs in decades.
--With assistance from Aisha S Gani.
(Updates with company context in sixth paragraph.)
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