Report: Klarna Pauses IPO Amid Investor Uncertainty Caused by Tariffs
Klarna reportedly paused its planned initial public offering (IPO) amid investor uncertainty caused by the Trump administration’s announcement of tariffs.
The buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider had planned to launch marketing shares for the IPO on Monday (April 7), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Friday (April 4), citing unnamed sources.
Reached by PYMNTS, Klarna declined to comment on the report.
The WSJ report noted that the market valuation of one of Klarna’s biggest competitors in the U.S., Affirm, slid to a level lower than Klarna’s target in its IPO after Affirm’s shares dropped 15% so far Friday and 46% since the beginning of the year.
Klarna said March 14 that it publicly filed a registration form on Form F-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed IPO of its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
“The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined,” the company said in a press release at the time.
It was reported March 6 that Klarna was perhaps days away from filing for its IPO and that unnamed sources said the company hoped to raise at least $1 billion, with plans to price the IPO in early April. The same sources said the company was targeting a value of more than $15 billion.
Klarna said in November that it “confidentially submitted” a draft registration statement for an IPO to the SEC.
The company’s F-1 filing includes 45 references to the pay-later ecosystem taking shape, with Klarna’s app at the center of it all, PYMNTS reported March 17.
Klarna’s sales year on year surged 24% to $2.8 billion, while it also logged a profit, at $21 million (though operating losses widened in the latest year to $2.9 billion from $2.6 billion in 2023).
It was reported March 19 that the IPO from Klarna was among the upcoming tech IPOs that fostered hopes that the years-long drought in high-profile tech listings may be at an end.
The Dow Jones average was down 1,600 points for the day Thursday (April 3) in the wake of the Trump administration’s Wednesday (April 2) night announcement of tariffs.
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