Company Overview - Klarna is a Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) company that is set to begin publicly trading after raising $1.37 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) [1] - The IPO was priced at $40 per share, reflecting strong demand and valuing the company at approximately $15.1 billion [1][2] Market Context - Klarna's current market capitalization is significantly lower than its previous valuation of $45.6 billion following a large investment from SoftBank in 2021, but it is more than double its worth of $6.7 billion after a private funding round in 2022 [2] - The IPO comes during a period of recovery in the capital raising environment, with several other companies also expected to price their offerings this week [3] Industry Trends - Klarna's IPO is part of a broader trend of successful public market debuts in 2025, with 144 companies going public, representing a 53% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2024 [4] - The technology sector has seen significant activity, with tech IPOs raising over $12 billion this year [4] Business Model and Performance - Klarna is known for its BNPL scheme, which allows customers to pay for purchases in installments, and has a user base of 93 million with partnerships with over 675,000 merchants [5] - The company reported that 99% of consumer loans extended in 2024 were paid off on time, outperforming the Q2 credit card delinquency rate of 3.05% from US commercial banks [6]
Klarna IPO prices at $40 per share, valuing BNPL leader at $15 billion