Indian Payments Firm Pine Labs Seeks $700 Million in IPO

The company is planning to raise up to $700 million from an initial public offering (IPO) in the latter half of October, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Sept. 18), citing unnamed sources.

Pine, which is backed by PayPal and Mastercard, launched roadshows for the planned share sale and reduced the size of the sale from an earlier $1 billion target as investors shrank their offer-for-sale portion.

The company also filed confidentially for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022, aiming to raise roughly $500 million at an estimated valuation between $5.5 billion and $7 billion. It later withdrew the plan, citing unfavorable market conditions.

Pine Labs offers payment solutions, including point-of-sale terminals, and does business in its home country as well as Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

The IPO plans are happening as a digitization campaign by India’s government is leading to a FinTech boom, per the Bloomberg report.

“India, traditionally reliant on cash, embarked on a digital payments journey 15 years ago,” PYMNTS wrote in 2023. “The process was marked by key milestones like the introduction of the instant Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 2016. The 2016 demonetization further accelerated the transition to digital payments, leveraging the existing trend of Indian citizens using mobile phones for various transactions.”

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has shown that digital wallets have become the preferred payment method for more than half of all retail purchases in India, with 80% of digital wallet users choosing UPI. Bank transfers are the second-most used underlying payment method, making up 12% of digital wallet payments.

“This preference for digital wallets and UPI reflects the convenience and ease of use they offer to Indian consumers,” PYMNTS wrote.

Pine is part of a wave of FinTech companies looking to list, a trend PYMNTS examined in a report this week, following a string of successful IPOs in the financial space.

“The shared element isn’t cryptocurrency speculation or flashy consumer apps,” PYMNTS reported Monday (Sept. 15). “It’s digitally transforming the same activities that have powered banking for centuries, like moving money, extending credit and settling trades. Investors appear to be rewarding that disciplined innovation. Klarna’s IPO priced above the initial range, for example.”