The Swedish payment company has not yet publicly filed its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus. The company stated that the stock offering will undergo a review process with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will depend on market conditions.
Recently, analysts valued Klarna, founded in 2005, at $15 billion. At the height of its growth during the pandemic-driven surge in fintech and e-commerce stocks, the company was valued at $46 billion.
Klarna's shareholders include SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and the London-based firm Atomico. Klarna's CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski previously mentioned that unfavorable regulations in Europe regarding employee stock options might lead the company to lose talent to American tech giants like Google, Apple, and Meta.
Plans for the IPO have been in development for some time. In a February interview, Siemiatkowski stated that an IPO in 2024 is "not impossible."
Klarna's decision to seek a listing in the U.S. is a significant blow to European stock exchanges, which have been trying to encourage local tech companies to list on their platforms.