By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 4 (Radarr Africa) – Nigerian payments company OPay has said that postponing its planned initial public offering (IPO) in New York will not affect its business operations or customer services, after the offer was pulled just as trading was due to begin.
The company attributed the postponement to a regulatory inquiry in a foreign jurisdiction that it did not name, made after discussions with the financial institutions arranging the deal, according to a Nairametrics report published on November 3.
“Customers can continue sending and receiving money, making payments and savings without interruption,” OPay said in a statement quoted by the publication.
OPay had priced 16 million American depositary shares at $19 each, a target of $304 million in gross proceeds that implied a valuation of about $4 billion, Nairametrics reported. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) had been scheduled to start on October 30, with completion of the offer expected on November 2.
The underwriting agreement was signed on October 29 and was later terminated by mutual consent, the report said. Executives attended the NYSE opening-bell ceremony, but the shares did not trade as planned. Nairametrics noted that the $304 million should not be treated as money received.
The underwriters named in the report were Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and CICC. SoftBank entities held a 6.6 per cent stake in OPay before the planned transaction.
OPay said it expects the inquiry to be resolved satisfactorily, according to Nairametrics. The report did not name the foreign jurisdiction or the regulator involved.
Nairametrics set out OPay’s first-half 2026 results, which it described as largely company-reported. Revenue rose 136.5 per cent to $467.06 million, and net profit climbed to $90.87 million from $21.71 million a year earlier.
Payment-related income rose 86.9 per cent to $130.55 million, while income from lending in Nigeria rose 167.9 per cent to $236.12 million. Operating cash flow was $190.38 million, compared with $29.47 million in the first half of 2025, the report said.
As at June 30, 2026, OPay held cash and cash equivalents of $385.77 million and short-term investments of $532.94 million, mainly Treasury bills and wealth-management products maturing within a year. Together these totalled $918.71 million, up from $684.76 million at the end of 2025.
Interest-bearing customer deposits stood at $978.94 million, with a net inflow of $247.78 million during the half-year, according to the report. Nairametrics cautioned that not all of the cash and investments are freely available for expansion, because customer deposits are repayable.
The publication said the postponement changes the timing of OPay’s capital raise and investor access, not its existing operations. It listed the next milestones as clarity on the regulatory inquiry, continued earnings growth and the terms of any future offering.
OPay has not set a new date for an offer, according to the Nairametrics report, which did not mention one.
Lending in Nigeria was the largest single contributor to the half-year result. The reported $236.12 million of Nigerian lending income equates to roughly half of the $467.06 million total revenue, a Radarr Africa calculation from the reported figures.
The Nairametrics article was written by senior analyst Idika Aja.
