A digital bank could opt out of a traditional IPO in favor of a direct listing or a deal with SPAC.
Chime’s neobank is in talks with investment banks to arrange a potential placement of shares on one of the US stock exchanges. According to Reuters, Chime expects to go public by the end of 2021. During the placement, its capitalization may grow to $ 30 billion.
- Founded in 2012, Chime’s neobank is aimed at millennials who prefer mobile banking to physical branches. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are banking online – something Chime has been able to capitalize on.
- As of early February 2021, more than 12 million people used Chime’s services. For comparison: in February 2019, neobank served the accounts of 8 million clients. According to Forbes, this is the largest neobank in the United States.
- During its work, Chime has raised $ 1.5 billion from investors. The Series F funding round, which took place in September last year, estimated the capitalization of Neobank at $ 14 billion.
- Following a September fundraising round, Chime CEO Chris Britt said Neobank could go public within the next 12 months. In a recent interview with Reuters, he said that Chime has intentions “to become a large, independent public company.”
- Britt noted that when the neobank’s management makes the final decision to place its shares on the stock market, it will consider “all possible options”, including a direct listing, a traditional IPO and a deal with SPAC.
