Planned IPO: Standard Bank to Invest About $200m in OPay

Standard Bank Group plans to invest up to $200 million in Nigerian-focused fintech company OPay as the digital payments firm moves to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

The South African banking group disclosed in a registration statement filed by OPay with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that its subsidiary, Stanbic Africa Holdings, had signed a subscription agreement to acquire shares in a private placement alongside the initial public offering.

The investment, which is subject to the completion of the offering and regulatory approval, will be capped at the lowest of $200 million, 0.98 per cent of Standard Bank Group’s qualifying regulatory capital, excluding unappropriated profit, or the value of a 4.99 per cent stake in OPay after the offering, calculated at the IPO price.

Standard Bank did not disclose the investment amount in its own announcement, while OPay’s filing did not specify the number of shares to be offered or the proposed price range.

Under the terms of the agreement, Standard Bank will generally be restricted from selling the shares until 12 months after the date of OPay’s prospectus, subject to certain exceptions.

The transaction also provides for Standard Bank to play a role in OPay’s listing, with Standard Bank of South Africa named among the four representatives of the underwriters alongside Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and China International Capital Corporation.

In addition, Mr Lungisa Fuzile, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank’s Africa Regions business, will join OPay’s board as a non-executive director once the private placement is completed. Fuzile previously served as chief executive of Standard Bank South Africa from 2018 to 2024.

OPay has applied to list American depositary shares, which represent its ordinary shares, on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPAY.

Beyond the proposed investment, the two companies plan to explore opportunities in digital banking, payments, lending, remittances, merchant acquiring and cross-border commerce across African markets.

They also intend to consider distributing selected Standard Bank products through OPay’s application and merchant network, as well as developing financial products jointly.

However, the proposed collaboration remains non-binding. The memorandum of understanding signed by OPay and Stanbic Africa Holdings on August 14 does not require either party to implement any specific initiative, with individual projects subject to definitive agreements and regulatory approvals.

Commenting on the proposed partnership, Standard Bank Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sim Tshabalala, said the bank’s banking expertise and African footprint complemented OPay’s digital financial services platform and merchant ecosystem.

“Together we see potential to expand access to financial services, support cross-border commerce and deliver value to clients across Africa,” he said.

Founded in 2017 by Mr Zhou Yahui, also known as Mr James Zhou, in collaboration with Norwegian web browser company Opera, OPay launched its payments business in Nigeria in 2018 after acquiring a local financial services provider.

The fintech company raised $400 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2021, which valued it at $2 billion.

Although headquartered in Singapore, OPay also operates in Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan, with Nigeria accounting for 89.5 per cent of its revenue in the first half of 2026.

According to its prospectus, OPay’s revenue rose to $536.3 million in 2025 from $205.7 million in 2024, while it recorded a net income of $72.5 million, compared with a net loss of $50.8 million in the previous year.

Its financial performance strengthened further in the first half of 2026, with revenue more than doubling to $467.1 million and net income increasing to $90.9 million from $21.7 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

The company had 50.1 million monthly active users at the end of July 2026, while the gross value of transactions processed through its platform reached $339.1bn in the first half of the year.

In Nigeria, OPay’s active users represented approximately 66.1 per cent of the active users of financial applications tracked by app-monitoring company DataSparkle during the first half of 2026, according to the filing.

Before the proposed offering, Mr Zhou held a 21.3 per cent stake in OPay, while Opera owned 8.6 per cent and SoftBank held 6.6 per cent.

The prospectus also identified regulatory risks across OPay’s markets, including the possibility of temporary restrictions or suspensions on the onboarding of new customers.

Standard Bank already operates in Nigeria through Stanbic IBTC Holdings. The group said the proposed investment aligns with the growth strategy outlined at its recent capital markets day.

The company is also pursuing a secondary listing in Nigeria.

Stanbic IBTC Reinforces Commitment to Sustainable Finance in Nigeria

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *