OPay stopped its $300 million US share sale hours after pricing it, Bloomberg reports, because Chinese regulators asked last-minute questions.
OPay, a payments company based in Singapore that focuses on Nigeria, has paused its $300 million stock sale in the US. Bloomberg reports, citing sources, that the company stopped hours after it had priced the sale. The reason: Chinese regulators made last-minute inquiries.
An IPO is when a company sells shares to the public for the first time. Pricing is the step where the company and its banks settle on the price per share. That usually comes close to the finish line. Here, OPay halted soon after reaching it. Bloomberg describes the Chinese questions as coming at the eleventh hour, meaning very late in the process.
OPay is based in Singapore and serves Nigeria, and the sale was planned in the US. Chinese oversight still appears to have mattered. That shows how a regulator in one country can slow a deal run from another.
Payment apps move everyday money for many people and small businesses. Anyone who uses these apps, or who invests in them, can be affected when a major funding step is delayed. Investors who expected to buy shares are left waiting.
The details come from unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. The full report was not available for this article, so the picture may change as more information comes out.
A deal can stall late, even after pricing, when a regulator in another country steps in, so treat planned share sales as uncertain until they close.
A former Nvidia product manager has started Udu Technologies to let African startups and institutions rent AI computing power instead of buying it.
Read more: Ex-Nvidia engineer starts company to bring AI computing power to AfricaGenRobot AI raised $100 million to record how people work, so robot makers can use those recordings to teach machines home, factory and warehouse tasks.
Read more: Beijing startup raises $100 million to teach robots by watching peopleRecruiters say AI now handles much of the screening work, so employers may start asking what a fee of a share of a new hire's salary actually pays for.
Read more: AI is speeding up hiring and putting recruiter fees under pressure
