Fintech firm Wise mulls direct listing on London’s stock market

Global fintech firm Wise announced it is considering a public listing on the London Stock Exchange by way of a direct listing of its shares.

Wise founders Taavet Hinrikus (left) and Kristo Käärmann / Photo credit: Wise

The company also intends to publish a document regarding its possible admission into the exchange later today, it said in a statement.

Upon listing, Wise will have a dual class share structure in place with two classes of shares in issue, class A shares and class B shares. All shareholders and holders of vested options as of May 23 this year can choose to receive 50% of the class A shareholding, with additional corresponding class B shares on a 1:1 basis.

If the listing pushes through, Wise plans to establish a customer shareholder program called OwnWise, which is open for pre-applications for eligible customers in the UK starting today. This gives participants the chance to receive bonus shares in Wise for at least a year, representing roughly 5% of the company share value they hold (up to 100 pounds).

Eligible customers will also have the option to join the company’s OwnWise community, which offers quarterly sessions with the Wise team, along with early access to new features and products.

However, OwnWise is limited to 100,000 participating customers in its first year. The company expects to open applications to other eligible customers in select countries after its direct listing.

In addition to the planned public listing, Wise also reported “strong growth” in its FY21 results across all geographies it operates in, with both personal and business customers.

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The fintech firm posted a total transaction volume of 54.4 billion pounds (US$76.1 billion) in FY21, which includes personal and business transactions. That’s a 30% increase from the previous year, when the company moved 41.7 billion pounds (US$58.33 billion) across borders.

Wise’s revenue also increased to 421 million pounds from 302.6 million pounds (US$423.2 million) a year ago. However, it recorded 108.7 million pounds (US$152 million) in adjusted EBITDA, up from 68.2 million pounds (US$95.4 million) in the previous corresponding year.

The company now has 6 million active users compared to the 4.7 million it had last year. It has also seen “strong demand” for its services in the beginning of FY22 in terms of personal and business volumes and revenues.

Looking ahead, Wise expects revenue to grow in the medium-term at a compound annual growth rate of over 20% and adjusted EBITDA margin to remain above 20%. Meanwhile, for FY22, it anticipates revenue growth in the low- to mid-twenties on a percentage basis.

Currency converted from Pound sterling to US dollar: £1 = US$1.40