Klarna has raised $1.37bn in its initial public offering as the fintech prepares for a market debut later today at the New York Stock Exchange. As part of the IPO, investors of the Swedish buy-now pay-later fintech have sold 34.3m shares at $40 each, above the previous expected range of $35 to $37.
The public listing values Klarna at just over $15bn, a similar valuation as it was reportedly seeking back in March when the fintech was set to IPO before market turmoil triggered by Trump’s tariff policies derailed plans. However, it’s significantly less than the $45bn pricetag Klarna once had at the height of the fintech VC funding boom in 2021.
When trading began on the NYSE, Klarna shares opened at $52 per share—marking a 30% jump relative to the IPO pricing.
Founded in 2005, Klarna is most known for its landmark buy now, pay later product enabling shoppers to delay or split payments across interest-free instalments. Klarna charges merchants a percentage fee for taking on that risk, its primary moneymaker.
The fintech, cofounded by CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, has long been viewed as a perennial IPO candidate. And the fintech is debuting on the New York Stock Exchange at a time when public markets appear to be warming up to fintech IPOs.
The last six months have seen fintechs such as neobank Chime, stablecoin payments business Circle and digital assets exchange Bullish IPO pull off a spate of successful public listings. Still, Klarna is IPO’ing at a time when profitability remains a challenge. In its second quarter results this year, pre-tax losses more than doubled year-on-year from $19m to $46m.
Article was updated at 8 pm UK time with the opening price in trading.
