SoftBank-backed PayPay targets low-end pricing for US IPO

PayPay, a Japanese payments app backed by SoftBank, plans to price its US IPO around the low end of its marketed range as the war in the Middle East roils markets.

The company is offering 55 million American depositary shares at US$17 to US$20 apiece.

Sources said the order book was over five times oversubscribed with pricing to be finalized after US market hours on March 11.

Tencent, Ant Group’s Alipay, and Alphabet’s Google have committed to invest in the offering.

A filing showed the sale targets a valuation of up to US$13.4 billion and lists Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Mizuho, and Morgan Stanley as joint book-running managers while saying PayPay plans to list on Nasdaq under the symbol PAYP.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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Beyond the price, PayPay’s IPO includes a SoftBank-led sell-down

Filings list possible buyers that include a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund), an arm of Visa (the global card network), and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund), with interest up to $220 million 1.
PayPay already posts strong profits, with profit rising to 103.3 billion yen in the nine months ending Dec. 31, 2025, from 29 billion yen a year earlier 2.
About 44% of the American depositary shares (ADSs) in the offering come from a seller tied to SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (SoftBank’s late-stage venture fund), rather than from PayPay itself 3.
SoftBank keeps control after the IPO through an equity stake worth about 91.78% of the voting power of PayPay’s total issued and outstanding stock, according to the prospectus 4.

A profitable super app IPO suggests a new phase for SoftBank and Asian tech

SoftBank plans to turn mature holdings into cash to support its capital-heavy AI push, following earlier partial sales of other large stakes 5.
PayPay’s earnings offer an example that the super app model, which combines payments, banking, and investments, can make money at scale, unlike many global neobanks (digital-first banks) that burn cash 2.
Renaissance Capital (an IPO research firm) calls it the largest U.S. IPO from a Japanese issuer on record, which puts pressure on the deal to perform as a bellwether for other profitable Asian tech firms weighing a U.S. listing for deeper capital pools 6.