Blockchain lender Figure seeks up to $4.1 billion valuation in US IPO

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By Ateev Bhandari and Pritam Biswas

(Reuters) -Figure Technologies is targeting a valuation of up to $4.13 billion in its initial public offering, the blockchain lender said on Tuesday, becoming the latest crypto firm to capitalize on revived investor interest in new listings.

Renewed regulatory clarity and strong inflows into crypto-focused exchange-traded funds have accelerated institutional adoption of digital assets, while successful debuts by crypto exchange Bullish and stablecoin issuer Circle have encouraged other firms to go public.

Figure and some of its existing investors plan to sell 26.3 million shares in the IPO at prices expected to be between $18 and $20, aiming to raise up to $526.3 million.

Earlier on Tuesday, Swedish fintech Klarna and Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange backed by the Winklevoss twins, also launched roadshows.

“With the current administration strongly supportive of the space, the (IPO) pipeline is likely to remain active for well-structured, compliance-forward players,” IPOX CEO Josef Schuster said.

Co-founded in 2018 by technology entrepreneur Mike Cagney, Figure operates a blockchain-native platform for lending, trading and investing in consumer credit and digital assets.

The company says it funds home equity loans in just 10 days, compared to the industry average of 42 days.

The company swung to a profit of $29 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $13 million in the same period a year earlier.

“Investors in this space tend to be patient because they see the long-term potential—especially with regulatory hurdles starting to clear and adoption continuing to grow,” said Jeff Zell, senior research analyst at IPO Boutique.

Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and BofA Securities are the lead underwriters. Figure will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “FIGR”.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)