PicPay to Pursue IPO in New York

By Luciana Magalhaes and Paula Arend Laier

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian digital bank PicPay will start hiring financial firms to carry out a planned initial primary offering in New York next year, according to two people familiar with the matter.

This will be the second attempt for PicPay, owned by the holding group J&F, which also controls meatpacker JBS, aiming to list shares in the U.S. Previously, in 2021, the group made preparations for a Nasdaq IPO but dropped it due to market headwinds.

PicPay has not formally selected any investment banks for the consortium but intends to hire Citigroup among others, as the bank has been involved in its IPO discussions since 2021, said the anonymous sources.

Both PicPay and Citigroup declined to comment on the matter.

As before, PicPay aims to list its shares with Nasdaq, known for attracting tech sector IPOs due to lower fees and easier listing requirements.

Though PicPay has not finalized the size of the share sale, it wants its IPO to be “only as big as necessary,” according to one insider, emphasizing that timing and value may fluctuate based on market conditions.

The fintech sees 2025 as a promising year for a New York IPO since the Federal Reserve has begun cutting rates, and the U.S. election will soon be behind.

More than merely raising fresh capital, the IPO aims to provide PicPay with international visibility and access to a broader pool of tech investors. Funds raised would assist in expanding operations in Brazil.

Founded in 2012 and acquired by J&F three years later, PicPay has witnessed rapid growth as Brazil’s central bank has encouraged competition in retail banking through new technologies.

By the end of the second quarter, PicPay reported a net income of 61.8 million reais ($11.3 million) for the first half of 2024, nearly double its net income for all of 2023.

($1 = 5.46 reais)