CAB Payments Holdings to pursue London listing (updated)

Loews

08/06/2023 09:04

(Adds context in paragraph 3, analyst comment in paragraph 4
and 5)
    By Sinead Cruise and Kirstin Ridley
       LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - CAB Payments Holdings, a
specialist in business-to-business cross-border payments across
emerging markets, is seeking a London stock market listing to
broaden its ownership and accelerate its growth, the company
said on Thursday.
    The offer is expected to comprise a secondary sell-down of
existing ordinary shares by Merlin Midco Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Helios Investors III L.P, Helios Investors III A
L.P and certain other investors, CAB said.
    The announcement comes a day after We Soda, a natural soda
ash producer, said it had received "considerable" interest from
investors and confirmed it was also seeking a London listing.  
    Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves
Lansdown, said CAB's listing plan was another boost for London
after several high-profile companies appeared to shun the city
for a New York listing.
    "After the drought of IPOs in the capital, the taps are now
being slowly turned on and the flotation tank is starting to
fill, but don't expect the trickle to turn into a flood just
yet," she said.
    Reuters reported in March that Helios had engaged Barclays
Plc  BARC.L  and JPMorgan & Co  JPM.N  to explore strategic
options for CAB, including a private sale and flotation. At the
time, sources said the firm could achieve a valuation of between
800 million pounds and 1 billion pounds-plus.
    CAB said ordinary shares representing up to a further 15% of
the offer were expected to be made available in an
over-allotment option.
    "Operating as a publicly traded company will help us to
continue to pursue our strategy of delivering long-term
sustainable growth ...," Bhairav Trivedi, Chief Executive
Officer of CAB Payments, said in a statement.
    "In turn, this will support us in our mission to connect
more people in traditionally hard-to-reach regions with global
financial infrastructure, enhancing financial inclusion and
strengthening local economies."

 (Editing by Karin Strohecker
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
 ((sinead.cruise@thomsonreuters.com; 020 7513 5026; Reuters
Messaging: sinead.cruise.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))