Finablr's $200m IPO To Be Completed By Mid-May

The initial public offering of Finablr, the UAE-based holding company behind payment and foreign exchange brands UAE Exchange, Travelex Holdings and Xpress Money, will allow the firm to scale up its capabilities and explore new markets, according to CEO Promoth Manghat.

In an interview with Arabian Business, Manghat said that “depending on market conditions”, the firm expects to be “admitted into the official list by mid-May.”

The company expects to raise $200 million from the sale of new shares, along with those of some pre-existing shares that will be included in the IPO. It intends to have a free float of at least 25 percent of its issued share capital.

“We’re really excited about this opportunity that’s available in front of us,” Manghat added. “We’re looking at the IPO as a starting point as a global player to capture the structural shifts that are happening in the market.”

In 2018, Finablr served approximately 23 million retail consumers and over 1,500 corporate and institutional partners, including banks, financial institutions, retailers and technology partners such as Google and WeChat.

Manghat added that the company hopes to ramp up its volume of transactions. In 2018, Finablr recorded about 150 million transactions, constituting $214 billion in volume.

“Our platform is scalable and can handle up to three times the current transactions without any investment, and up to seven times the current volume with very minimal investment,” he said.

Additionally, Manghat added that Finablr’s listing will allow the firm to tap into “buckets of opportunity”.

“Finablr out here has a head start. We are clearly focusing on growth,” he said. “We are excited about [further] opportunities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

“With 44 markets, we are present in relevant markets. Having said that, we continue to be excited about new opportunities in these geographies,” Manghat added.