Fintech Clear Street postpones US IPO, Bloomberg News reports

Feb 12 (Reuters) – Wall Street broker Clear Street has postponed its U.S. initial public offering, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, marking the second delayed listing in a week as the IPO market faces another bout of volatility.

Clear Street did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The company significantly downsized its IPO earlier on Thursday, as volatile markets forced investors to keep a measured stance amid lofty valuation targets. 

It had initially planned to raise as much as $1.05 billion in an offering that, at the top of its targeted range, would have it valued at $11.8 billion.

Disruption fears from AI-first offerings have been fueling broad market selloffs, with shares of Wall Street brokerages hit on Tuesday following a carnage through software and IT stocks selloff earlier in the month. 

Clear Street’s announcement follows similar moves elsewhere, with Blackstone-backed Liftoff Mobile postponing its planned U.S. listing amid a software sector selloff earlier this month.

Brazilian fintech Agibank also slashed its offering just a day before its debut, following weak trading by rival PicPay.

The delay in plans by the brokerage, which was coming off a banner year, could spark soul-searching in several boardrooms that might have been eyeing a listing this year.

The company expects net revenue between $1.04 billion and $1.06 billion in 2025, compared with its prior-year $463.6 million.

Founded in 2018, Clear Street started as a prime brokerage platform and has since expanded into other businesses, including investment banking.

It was aiming to debut on the Nasdaq on Friday.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)