OPay 周五突然撤回其 3.04 亿美元的美国 IPO，给非洲最具雄心的金融科技上市计划之一蒙上阴影，此前一项未披露的外国监管调查使其纽约首发上市计划受阻。
OPay’s abrupt withdrawal of its $304 million US IPO on Friday cast a shadow over one of Africa’s most ambitious fintech listings, after an undisclosed foreign regulatory inquiry derailed its New York debut.
周五，OPay 将其美国存托股份定价为每股 19 美元，处于目标区间底部，公司估值略超 40 亿美元。但交易从未开始：OPay 及其承销商于纽约时间下午 3 点 30 分左右终止协议，称继续发行已不再审慎。
On Friday, OPay had priced its American depositary shares at $19 each, the bottom of its target range, valuing the company at just over $4 billion. But trading never began: OPay and its underwriters terminated their agreement around 3.30 pm New York time, saying it was no longer prudent to proceed with the offering.
OPay 主要在尼日利亚开展支付业务，未透露监管机构身份，亦未说明调查主题。公司称涉事司法管辖区“对其核心业务无关紧要”，并预期调查将“在不久的将来圆满结束”。此次撤回对尼日利亚金融科技行业及更广泛的非洲初创企业生态系统构成挫折，后者多年来一直试图说服全球投资者，其年轻企业能成长为可上市、并能向投资者回报资金的大型业务。
OPay, which primarily operates its payments service in Nigeria, did not identify the regulator or specify the subject of the inquiry. It described the jurisdiction involved as “immaterial to its core business” and said it expected the inquiry to be “concluded satisfactorily in the near future.”The withdrawal represents a setback for Nigeria’s fintech sector and the wider African startup ecosystem, which has spent years trying to persuade global investors that its young companies can scale into major, publicly listed businesses that return funds to investors.
OPay 于 2018 年作为支付公司起步，还计划在纽约证券交易所首发上市后，在尼日利亚证券交易所进行二次上市，让本地投资者有机会投资一家近九成收入来自尼日利亚的企业。但 F-1 注册文件警告投资者，拉各斯交易的股份可能无法兑换为纽约上市的美国存托股份，这可能限制流动性并导致价格背离。
OPay, which launched in 2018 as a payments company, also outlined plans for a secondary listing on the Nigeria Stock Exchange after the NYSE debut to give local investors an opportunity to buy into a business that drives nearly nine-tenths of its revenue from Nigeria. But the F-1 filing warned investors that shares traded in Lagos may not be exchangeable for the New York-listed American depositary shares, potentially limiting liquidity and allowing prices to diverge.
此次 IPO 的关键部分是与非洲资产规模最大贷款机构标准银行集团的更广泛战略关系。其子公司 Stanbic Africa Holdings 同意投资最多 2 亿美元，受公式限制，其发行后持股比例上限为 4.99%。标准银行非洲业务负责人 Lungisa Fuzile 预计将在 IPO 后加入 OPay 董事会。
A key part of the IPO is a broader strategic relationship with Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets. Its subsidiary, Stanbic Africa Holdings, has agreed to invest up to $200 million, subject to a formula that caps its stake at 4.99% of OPay after the offering. Standard Bank’s Africa head Lungisa Fuzile is expected to join OPay’s board following the IPO.
两家公司还签署了一份不具约束力的谅解备忘录，以探索涵盖支付、商户获取、贷款、汇款以及特定银行和金融产品分销的合作伙伴关系。OPay在文件中表示，将利用标准银行的基础设施、监管专业知识和业务覆盖，在非洲各地扩张。
The two companies have also signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to explore partnerships spanning payments, merchant acquisition, lending, remittances, and the distribution of selected banking and financial products. OPay suggested in the filings that it will use Standard Bank’s infrastructure, regulatory expertise, and presence to expand across Africa.