Chinese billionaire Yahui Zhou’s Nigeria-focused fintech, OPay, has withdrawn its planned $304 million initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, just hours after pricing the deal at approximately $4 billion. The company had announced the sale of 16 million American Depositary Shares at $19 each, the lower end of its proposed $19 to $21 price range, on October 30, 2026. However, before the shares could begin trading under the ticker symbol OPAY, OPay and its underwriters mutually agreed to terminate the offering following an inquiry by an unnamed foreign jurisdiction. Reuters reported that the company described the jurisdiction as immaterial to its core operations and said it expected the matter to be resolved in the near future.
The withdrawal marks an abrupt reversal for one of Africa’s most prominent fintech companies, which had been preparing to enter the US public markets as part of a wider expansion strategy. OPay’s prospectus disclosed that it had approximately 50 million monthly active users as of July 31, 2026, across Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia. The company recorded revenue of $467.1 million in the first half of 2026, more than double the $197.5 million reported during the corresponding period in 2025, while net income rose to $90.9 million from $21.7 million. Founded in 2018, OPay provides digital payments, money transfers, savings, credit and merchant services, with Nigeria accounting for the largest share of its business.
The cancelled offering also puts a proposed investment of up to $200 million from Stanbic Africa Holdings, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, into uncertainty, as the private placement was linked to the completion of the IPO. SoftBank entities held a 6.6 per cent stake in OPay before the proposed offering, while Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and China International Capital Corporation were among the financial institutions involved in the transaction. OPay has maintained that the foreign regulatory inquiry does not affect its business performance, financial condition, regulatory standing or customer services in Nigeria and its other markets. The company has not announced a new timeline for pursuing the New York listing.
