SoftBank’s PayPay Gets Closer to US IPO in Milestone for Japan

Core Viewpoint - PayPay Corp., a digital payments provider under SoftBank Group Corp., has filed for a US IPO, potentially marking the largest listing for a Japanese company on a US stock exchange [1] Group 1: IPO Details - PayPay aims for a valuation exceeding $10 billion, with SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son advocating for a valuation as high as $20 billion [2] - The IPO could occur as early as March, with further details on shares and pricing to be disclosed in a future filing [2][3] Group 2: Financial Performance - For the nine months ending December, PayPay reported a profit of ¥103.3 billion ($676 million) on revenue of ¥278.5 billion, compared to a profit of ¥28.96 billion on revenue of ¥220.4 billion in the same period the previous year [3] Group 3: Market Position and Growth - PayPay, launched in 2018 as a joint venture with Paytm, has surpassed Rakuten Pay in user acquisition, boasting over 72 million users in Japan [4] - QR codes represented 9.6% of Japan's cashless transactions in 2024, a significant increase from 0.2% in 2018, while credit cards' share has been declining [5] Group 4: Expansion Efforts - PayPay is expanding internationally, having made its services available in over 2 million shops in South Korea and recently partnering with Visa to explore opportunities in the US [6] Group 5: Strategic Context - The IPO aligns with SoftBank's strategy to monetize assets for new investments, particularly in artificial intelligence, having divested nearly $13 billion in T-Mobile US shares between June and December [7]