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OPay, the Nigeria-focused payments and lending company founded by Chinese billionaire Yahui Zhou, is seeking a valuation of as much as $4.42 billion in a New York initial public offering, with South Africa's Standard Bank Group Ltd. agreeing to invest up to $200 million alongside the listing.
The company is offering 16 million American depositary shares at $19 to $21 each, according to an amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 23. That would raise up to $336 million, rising to about $386 million if underwriters buy an extra 2.4 million shares. All of the shares are new, and no existing investor is selling. OPay plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OPAY.
At the top of the range, the valuation is more than double the $2 billion OPay was given when it raised $400 million in 2021. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and China International Capital Corp. are among the underwriters. The filing does not set a pricing date.
Standard Bank takes a stake
Stanbic Africa Holdings, a unit of Standard Bank, has agreed to buy new OPay shares in a private placement that will close at the same time as the IPO. Its investment is capped at the lowest of three amounts: $200 million, a limit tied to the bank's regulatory capital, and the value of a 4.99% stake in OPay after the deal. At the midpoint of the price range, the placement would come to about $183.6 million for roughly 4.4% of the company. Stanbic cannot sell the shares for 12 months, and the deal needs regulatory approval.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in August to look at working together on payments, lending, remittances and merchant services, and on selling Standard Bank products through OPay's app. Lungisa Fuzile, who runs Standard Bank's Africa Regions business, will join OPay's board once the placement closes.
Nine investors have indicated they may buy up to $270 million of the IPO shares, about 80% of the base offering at the top of the range. They include Redwheel, Coronation Africa Frontiers Fund and Ninety One. The indications are not binding. SoftBank entities own 6.6% of OPay before the offering, and an affiliate of SoftBank Ventures Asia is among the investors that have signalled interest.
Profit from Nigeria
OPay was founded in 2018 and is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based in Singapore. Nigeria is by far its biggest market, and it also operates in Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan. The app offers payments, transfers, savings and loans to about 50.1 million monthly users, 26.8 million of whom used it daily at the end of July.
Revenue more than doubled to $467.1 million in the first half of 2026 from $197.5 million a year earlier, and net income rose to $90.9 million from $21.7 million. Nigeria accounted for 89.5% of revenue. Lending is the largest business, bringing in $236.1 million of interest income in the half, against which the company set aside $118.4 million for expected credit losses.
The company turned a profit of $72.5 million in 2025, after losing $50.8 million in 2024, as revenue rose to $536.3 million from $205.7 million. It says its platform handled 90.1 billion transactions worth $558 billion in the 12 months to June.
OPay's filing lists its dependence on Nigeria as a major risk, warning that changes in regulation, competition or economic conditions there could hit the business hard. It is listing at a time when higher inflation and a sell-off in technology stocks have made U.S. investors more selective about new offerings, and several companies have put their IPOs on hold.
The board has approved a second listing on the Nigerian Exchange after the New York debut, subject to market conditions and regulatory approval.
From games to fintech
Zhou, 49, made his fortune with Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., the Chinese online gaming company he founded in 2008, which once owned the dating app Grindr. He is also chairman of Opera Ltd., the Norwegian browser maker that a group he led bought in 2016, and OPay began life as an offshoot of Opera's African business before becoming a separate company.
The filing does not disclose the size of his stake in OPay. Nigeria's digital finance market has drawn heavy investment in recent years, and OPay competes with fintech firms such as Moniepoint as well as the country's large banks.
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