The two Wall Street firms will co-ordinate the British payments giant’s long-awaited IPO.

According to an exclusive report by Sky News, Wall Street investment banks Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) will lead the floatation of Transferwise’s IPO in London.

Sky said the banks will act as global co-ordinators for the issue, slated for some time this year. However, more details such as its timing and size, are yet to be finalized.

The firm counts Virgin Group billionaire Sir Richard Branson and Silicon Valley funds Valar Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures amongst its investors.

Hefty valuations

In July, Transferwise, which is an online money transfer unicorn, confirmed that it was valued at $5 billion following a $319 million secondary share sale.

According to analysts, the IPO could value the firm substantially in excess of this tag.

The startup reported a 70% growth in revenue to £302.6 million for the year to March 31, 2020. It also doubled profits from £10.1 million to £20.4 million. It employs 2,200 persons, has over nine million customers, and processes on average £4.5 billion of cross-border transactions every month.

The company’s IPO, which has been the subject of speculation for some time, has drawn the attention of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, who are seeking to enhance London’s appeal for listing by high-growth fintechs and tech firms. Reportedly, the political leaders talked with Transferwise, Deliveroo, Revolut, and others on the subject around Christmas.

Founders to become billionaires

Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann founded Transferwise in 2010 with a mission to reduce the cost of cross-border money transfers.

According to the company, it has saved customers over £1 billion compared to banks.

The firm has been profitable since 2017, and the founders are said to hold about 40% between them.

The IPO could set both up as billionaires.

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