Germany-based Fintech firm Heidelpay is reportedly seeking acquisitions and might launch an in initial public offering (IPO), according to its CEO, Mirko Huellemann.
He recently stated:
“An IPO is of course always an option for fresh capital.”
Huellemann’s comments regarding the firm’s business plans are notably his most detailed yet since the private equity company KKR acquired a majority stake in the payment service provider in 2019.
In an industry where company size makes a big difference, Huellemann notes that Europe is now home to anywhere between 300 to 400 acquisition targets.
In statements shared with Reuters, the chief executive noted:
“Of those 20 or 30 are certainly interesting for us.”
He pointed out that the price tags of between €2 million and €500 million (£1.69 million to £422.02 million) would be potential fits.
In 2019, KKR had paid a sum of €600 million for a 60% stake in Heidelpay, which then valued the firm at around €1 billion. Huellemann personally has over a 30% stake in Heidelpay.
He says that a stock market listing at some point would be a possibility, however, he did not specify an exact time-frame.
He added:
“An IPO is of course always an option for fresh capital. But KKR just came on board and we have a couple of years of growth ahead of us.”
The firm, like its main competitors Wirecard of Germany, Netherlands-based Adyen, and Sweden’s Klarna, have been able to make a sizeable profit from the significant increase in cashless transactions and widespread purchasing of products and services through e-commerce platforms.
Last year, Heidelpay reportedly managed to double its revenue to €90 million.
