Fintech Clear Street withdraws US IPO filing amid market volatility

By Ateev Bhandari

Feb 19 (Reuters) – Wall Street broker Clear Street on Thursday pulled its U.S. listing plan a week after delaying it, as heightened worries over AI-related disruptions spilled over to the new listings market.

Several companies have downsized or postponed their U.S. initial public offerings amid market volatility, valuation scrutiny and weak peer performance.

Last week, Clear Street slashed its targeted raise and price range, as Wall Street brokerages were swept up in a broad selloff on fears AI could upend their business models.

“If demand wasn’t there even at a severe discount, pushing through a weakly received deal would have risked the stigma of a ‘failed’ IPO,” said Kat Liu, a vice president at IPO research firm IPOX.

Brazilian fintech Agibank also downsized its issue size by more than 50% last week and currently trades below its IPO price.

“Given the broader weakness in fintech, even though Clear Street is not an AI-driven or high-growth software play, it was still weighed down by poor sector sentiment,” Liu added.

Blackstone-backed Liftoff Mobile, which also postponed its IPO plans earlier this month, refiled for a U.S. listing on Tuesday just hours after withdrawing an earlier plan.

The whipsawing nature of listing maneuvers underscores the anxiety gripping capital markets.

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

The withdrawal of its listing plan reflects the renewed challenges faced by companies aiming to tap the public markets, after U.S. trade policy and partisan gridlock caused hiccups last year in the long-awaited IPO comeback.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)