Such a deal would value Mozno at up to £10 billion ($13.2 billion), the Financial Times (FT) reported Saturday (Sept. 26), citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Sources told the FT there are three different options facing Monzo. First is a takeover via a mix of cash and shares, valuing Monzo at between £8 billion and £10 billion.
Another source said Monzo had been in talks with private equity companies about selling as much as a 15% stake in the business to generate cash to fuel its growth. The third option would involve Monzo embarking on a “venture capital-style” funding round, in which investors would take smaller stakes in the company.
PYMNTS has contacted Nubank and Monzo for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. Monzo declined to comment when reached by the FT.
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The FT noted that these talks come at a pivotal moment for Monzo. Last year, several investors pushed for the ouster of the company’s board chairman following the surprise resignation of CEO TS Anil. Gary Hoffman, the company’s board chairman since 2019, announced he would step down last month.
New CEO Diana Layfield, who began her tenure in February, has shut down Monzo’s business in the U.S. as the company focuses on Europe, launching operations in Ireland and Spain.
PYMNTS wrote earlier this year that Monzo’s withdrawal from the U.S. followed a period when Monzo had been rethinking an American banking license. The FinTech had pulled an application in 2021 after regulators indicated approval was unlikely, and later considered relaunching that process as part of a larger bid for expansion.
“A charter would have allowed Monzo to operate under a single regulator, access core payment rails and originate loans directly,” that report said. “Without it, the firm remained dependent on partner banks, which can constrain margins and limit product scope.”
The FT report added that selling Monzo to Nubank – valued at $65 billion, with 140 million customers throughout the Americas – would be a blow to the London Stock Exchange, which has been courting Monzo for a listing.
Nubank is also also focused on an international expansion, having obtained a banking license in the U.S., the FT report said.
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