Revolut to IPO above $100bn, says former licence boss
The man who steered Revolut’s pursuit of banking licences in its early stages has said he expects the fintech giant to make its public debut with a price tag north of $100bn.
In an exclusive video interview with CityAM, Will Mahon-Heap, the former head of international and authorisations at Revolut, said: “I think it will IPO at a much higher price than the $100bn.”
Questioned on the timeline this could mean for the fintech’s highly-anticipated public float, he said: “We don’t know, right?
“Maybe it goes from $100bn to $200bn next year. Let’s see what happens. Anything is possible in the markets currently.”
Reports emerged earlier this year that the London-born digital bank was in early talks over a transaction that would give new investors the opportunity to buy into the firm.
Last year, the firm cemented its $75bn valuation following a secondary share sale, which included investment from chipmaker Nvidia through its venture capital arm, NVentures.
The suggestions of a new round, reported by Bloomberg, came amid speculation that Revolut was seeking to secure the $100bn valuation before its official listing.
Revolut has said its “focus is not on if, when or where we IPO” but instead on the continued expansion of the business.
Revolut boss cold on London listing
Whilst hopes remain high in the City for a London listing – or a blockbuster dual listing – Revolut boss Nik Storonsky has continued to pour cold water over the matter.
In a Russian-language interview in December, the straight-talking fintech chief said a listing was “not a priority” and would “most likely” come in “two or three years”.
Mahon-Heap said: “I think wherever the liquidity is, and the strongest demand is where Revolut will go.”
The comments come after Revolut secured its long-awaited full-fat UK banking licence this week, in a move Mahon-Heap, who had previously worked on the licence application, described as a real win for London.
The former licences and international boss now leads AI-powered fintech startup Outpost, which just pocketed $17.5m in Series A funding in a round led by Ribbit – a previous Revolut-backer.
The firm provides support to infrastructure merchants as they operate in increasingly complex global economies amid overlapping geopolitical, economic, and regulatory pressures.
Speaking about the fresh capital injection, Mahon-Heap said: “What I learned is that when you scale internationally and you go into all of these different markets, it compounds over the long time.
“So if you look at what we did at Revolut by launching in Australia and close to eight years ago, we now have millions of users in Australia. But that’s only possible once you make that investment from day one and going global.”