Shares opened at $52 compared to the $40 offering price. Klarna, operating under the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model, led a wave of seven companies planning to go public this week. Among them is the Gemini crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins. This could mark the biggest IPO week in the U.S. in years.
The company and its investors sold 34.3 million shares at $40 each, above the indicated range of $35–37. The IPO valued Klarna at $15.1 billion. “This is an opportunity for new shareholders and our 111 million consumers to be part of a journey that is transforming the financial industry,” said Klarna CFO Niklas Neglen.
Selling shareholders included Sequoia Capital and Danish businessman Anders Holch Povlsen (Heartland A/S), who raised $1.17 billion. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who owns about 7% of the company, did not sell shares.
Klarna became the largest Swedish company to list on the U.S. market since Spotify in 2018. At its peak in 2021, it was valued at $45.6 billion, but by the following year its value had dropped to $6.7 billion due to inflation and rising interest rates.
Analysts note that the successful debut may inspire other fintech firms to pursue IPOs, though there is a risk of the market “overheating.”