U.K. FinTech Atom Bank announced Wednesday (Feb. 16) that it has raised £75 million (roughly $102 million) for a valuation of £435 million ($590.9 million), as its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) grow closer to reality.
Atom Bank said it doesn’t know whether it will IPO in the U.K. or what exchange it’ll be on. This round is likely to be the final one it does before it goes public, which will likely happen next year.
The round was led by BBVA and Toscafund, the digital bank’s two biggest shareholders, and received funding from Infinity Investment Partners.
Atom Bank provides savings accounts, mortgages and loans for smaller companies. Launched in 2016, it has no physical branches, but users can access it from a smartphone or tablet.
“Our investors are now backing our continued growth,” Atom Bank CEO Mark Mullen said in the announcement. “This capital will allow Atom to build on the progress we have made, and to keep offering real competition for people who want to own their own home, grow their own businesses and — at a time of rapidly rising costs — save for the future. It is also a fundamental next step on our journey toward IPO.”
The bank is loss-making, but it said it’s on the way to being profitable.
PYMNTS writes that traditional IPOs are gaining traction in 2022, while special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have been losing steam.
See also: Traditional IPOs Announcements Gain Ground in 2022, While SPAC Deals Sputter
PYMNTS tracked listings of companies focused on digital disruption across several categories, including financial services, transactions and travel. IPOs were then divided into segments of what the companies were doing, with the “work” segment taking the top spot, followed by “live.”
The SPAC sector is currently having some trouble closing deals, with several blank check firms not able to complete their mergers after going public.
Six of them so far have been canceled, according to SPAC Research data. Twenty-two have been called off since the middle of last year — a pace that comes close to the 26 deals in all the last five years combined.
Markets have been volatile and interest rates are rising, both of which could contribute to the problem.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: ACCOUNT OPENING AND LOAN SERVICING IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
About: Forty-two percent of U.S. consumers are more likely to open accounts with FIs that make it easy to auto-share their banking details during sign-up. The PYMNTS study Account Opening And Loan Servicing In The Digital Environment, surveyed 2,300 consumers to examine how FIs can leverage open banking to engage customers and create a better account opening experience.
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