Revolut in bid to raise £1.2bn and become Europe’s most valuable fintech firm
Fintech firm Revolut is seeking to raise £1.2bn from its investors in the coming months.
The British-Based payment firm has hired investment bank JP Morgan to arrange a £395m equity raise and issuance of a £790m convertible loan, according to Sky News.
Read more: Martin Gilbert to step down from Stand Life and join Revolut
Founder and chief executive Nik Storonsky is targeting a valuation between £3.9bn and £7.9bn to make Revolut the most valuable fintech company in Europe.
It comes just weeks after the company announced a global deal with Visa as it expands into 24 countries where they will issue Visa-branded cards, including in US, Canada and Japan.
Sources told Sky News that the new loan could be raised on the basis it would convert it into shares in the event the company receives a US banking licence.
The company is also hoping to unveil Martin Gilbert as its new chairman in the coming months, while former boss of Goldman Sachs in Europe, Michael Sherwood, has also been lined up as a non-executive director.
It is also hiring a senior executive at Metro Bank as its new finance chief.
The changes come after a serious of challenges to its reputation, including alleged links to the Kremlin – which it denies – and claims that it had switched off an automated system preventing its money transfer system being used to violate international sanctions.
Revolut has 7m customers, half of whom are in the UK, and now operates in 55 countries with the new Visa partnership.
Read more: Fintech losses double to £33m as it splashes cash to expand
The firm made pre-tax losses of £33m in 2018, up from £15m the previous year, although revenue grew from £13m to £58m with expectations to triple revenue again this year.
Revolut declined to comment.