Standard Bank eyes OPay stake ahead of $4bn New York IPO

Standard Bank Group is in talks to buy a stake in OPay Digital Services as the Nigeria-focused fintech prepares for an initial public offering in the US, according to Bloomberg.

The timeline: OPay, has raised $570m, including a $400m Series C, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which valued it at $2bn at the time.

The company is working with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan to help list the company in New York, with Standard Bank seeking to buy a stake before the IPO. The companies have not reached an agreement, and the transaction may not proceed.

The numbers: The IPO could value OPay at about $4 billion (double its valuation from its last round). The company became profitable last year (reportedly $72 million) as transaction values more than doubled to $358 billion.

A potential Standard Bank investment would bring together one of Africa's largest traditional financial institutions and one of the continent's most prominent digital financial-services companies, with Standard Bank holding about $232.5 billion in assets.

OPay has emerged as a critical fintech player during periods of naira scarcity and cash shortages. The company commands an estimated 35% share of Nigeria's mobile money market. A successful US listing would be the largest technology listing ever to come out of Nigeria and could open the door for other African fintechs eyeing international capital.

Watch whether Standard Bank closes the deal before the IPO; a pre-listing anchor investor typically signals confidence and can set pricing expectations. Also watch regulatory clearance timelines in both Nigeria and the US, and whether other African banks join the round.

OPay and other Fintechs have predominantly Nigerian customers and make most of their revenues in Nigeria, yet intend to list abroad to attract deeper capital pools. President Tinubu has been urged to force Fintechs to list domestically..