Klarna shares jumped 30 percent in their hotly anticipated New York debut, valuing the Swedish fintech at $19.65 billion, ending the company’s years-long wait for a listing and underscoring a rebound in the broader US IPO market.
The company’s shares opened at $52, compared with their IPO price of $40 apiece.
The buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) lender is leading a slate of seven companies, including Winklevoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini, poised to go public in New York by Friday, in what is set to be the US IPO market’s biggest week in years.
The strong lineup sets the stage for an eventful fall window after tariff-driven volatility earlier in the year had slammed brakes on a revival of new issues following a near three-year dry spell.
Klarna and several other big names had halted their IPO plans in April after tariff-driven volatility roiled stock markets.
The company and some of its investors sold 34.3 million shares at $40 each, above the marketed range of between $35 and $37. The IPO valued Klarna at $15.1 billion.
