Personal finance firm NerdWallet valued at $1.5 bln in strong market debut (updated)

NerdWallet

04/11/2021 16:03

(Adds IPO background, details on company)
    Nov 4 (Reuters) - NerdWallet Inc's  NRDS.O  shares rose
nearly 31% in their stock market debut valuing the company at
about $1.5 billion, as the firm joined a clutch of companies
that have gone public to cash in on the high investor appetite
for tech stocks.  
    San Francisco, California-based NerdWallet's shares opened
at $23.5. It sold 7.25 million shares at $18 a piece, the
midpoint of the price range announced earlier, raising $130.5
million.
    NerdWallet, co-founded in 2009 by former hedge fund
executive Tim Chen and former J.P. Morgan trader Jake Gibson,
provides financial guidance to users on credit cards, loans,
mortgages and other financial products.
    Chen was inspired to create a company that simplified
everyday financial decisions, when he couldn't find the answer
on the internet to his sister's question about which credit card
was the most suitable for an expatriate living in Australia. 
    A flurry of financial technology companies have made their
market debuts this year including buy-now-pay-later firm Affirm
Holdings Inc  AFRM.O , online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc
 HOOD.O  and cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase Global
Inc  COIN.O . 
    Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets,
Barclays and Citigroup are among the joint bookrunners for
NerdWallet's offering.

 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com;))