The founder of Revolut is to cash in part of his multibillion dollar stake in the company as part of a $500m (£391m) share sale.
Sky News has learnt that Nik Storonsky, who is the fintech giant’s chief executive, plans to offload stock worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in the secondary deal in the coming weeks.
City sources said the size of his disposal would depend on the valuation that Revolut is able to attract from new investors as well as final allocation decisions by the company and its advisers, Morgan Stanley.
The exact size of Mr Storonsky’s stake is unclear although at the $40bn (£31bn) valuation that Revolut hopes to attract, it would be worth several billion dollars.
Sky News revealed last month that Revolut had hired Morgan Stanley to organise the secondary share sale and that it would be at not less than the $33bn (£26bn) valuation it raised primary funding at in 2021.
Although the fintech, which has more than 40 million customers, is not planning to raise new capital as part of the transaction, any sizeable share sale will still be closely watched across the global fintech sector.
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It is expected to be restricted to company employees.
Last week, Revolut revealed record earnings of £438m last year on revenues which nearly doubled to £1.8bn.
Founded in 2015, it has experienced a string of regulatory and compliance challenges, with reports last year highlighting its release of funds from accounts flagged by the National Crime Agency as suspicious.
The company’s growth has taken place at breakneck speed, with customer numbers soaring from 16.4 million at the point of the Series E fundraising nearly three years ago.
Insiders argued that despite the protracted downturn in tech valuations over the last two years, Revolut’s relentless expansion would easily justify it maintaining its status as Britain’s most valuable fintech.
Monzo, the UK-based digital bank, recently confirmed a Sky News story that it had closed a funding round worth nearly £500m, including backing from an arm of Google’s owner, Alphabet, and a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund.
Elsewhere, however, the funding landscape has been bleaker, with a growing number of tech companies which had attracted unicorn valuations of more than $1bn now struggling to stay afloat.
Revolut has allotted stock options to many of its 10,000 employees as part of their compensation packages, although it was unclear how many would be eligible to dispose of equity in the transaction later this year.
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A source close to the company said it had had numerous expressions of interest from prospective investors.
Revolut’s current shareholders include SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Tiger Global.
News of the proposed share sale comes as Revolut’s investors continue to await positive news about its application for a UK banking licence.
The company applied to regulators to become a bank in Britain more than three years ago, but has so far failed to secure approval.
Mr Storonsky has been publicly critical of the delay, and last year questioned the approach of British regulators and politicians, as he suggested he would not contemplate a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
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One person close to Revolut said other board members might also participate in the secondary share sale.
The company is chaired by Martin Gilbert, the City veteran who has faced governance and performance challenges at AssetCo, the London-listed asset manager he runs.
Its other directors include Michael Sherwood, the former Goldman Sachs executive who was jointly responsible for its operations outside the US and who was regarded as one of the most skilled traders of his generation.
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An external shareholder in the company said the exclusion of non-employees from the deal could draw criticism from some investors.
Revolut has conducted secondary share sales of this kind in the past, including after its 2021 Series E round.
Revolut declined to comment.
