Connect with us
Finance Digest is a leading online platform for finance and business news, providing insights on banking, finance, technology, investing,trading, insurance, fintech, and more. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

NEWS

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Amy-Jo Crowley

LONDON (Reuters) – Helios Investment Partners has been working with advisers to sell a stake in Crown Agents Bank, a British provider of cross-border payments, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The private equity investor has engaged Barclays Plc and JPMorgan & Co to explore strategic options, including a private sale and a domestic float, said the sources, who asked not to be named discussing private information.

Helios had been preparing to list Crown Agents Bank’s shares as soon as next quarter, in what would be Britain’s first major initial public offering (IPO) since Ithaca Energy in November, one source said.

But the timing of a float remains open, another source said, after the collapse of U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank last week sent jitters across equity markets.

Meanwhile, banks are sounding out buyers as an alternative to a listing, with indicative offers expected in the coming weeks, one source said.

Spokespeople for Barclays and Helios declined to comment. Spokespeople for Crown Agents Bank and JPMorgan did not return requests for comment.

Sources disagreed on the potential price tag for Crown Agents Bank, with two of them placing it at up to 800 million pounds ($973.68 million) and another at well above 1 billion pounds.

However, they concurred that its valuation would be informed by that of British payments giant Wise.

Shares in Wise have slid more than 40% since the group’s landmark direct listing in 2021 and are down almost 3% this year amid market turbulence.

It trades at about 45 times its earnings for the last 12 months and 26 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), including debt.

Crown Agents Bank, which focuses on emerging markets, posted operating income for 2021 of 53 million pounds, up from 33 million the year prior, along with a twelvefold increase in profits to close to 9 million pounds. Its EBITDA stood at 16 million pounds.

The explorations come after IPO levels in London plunged by roughly 90% last year and global merger and acquisitions (M&A)activity contracted on the back of rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.

A float would come as a win for London, where local technology companies have been looking overseas for a potential IPO home.

($1 = 0.8216 pounds)

 

(Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Amy-Jo Crowley; Editing by John O’Donnell and Josie Kao)

 

Continue Reading

Why pay for news and opinions when you can get them for free?

       Subscribe for free now!


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Recent Posts