Exits & Deep Reads

Circle Smashes the IPO Window Open 🚀 (TWIF 6/8)

Hello Fintech Friends,

Today's newsletter comes to you with help from Airwallex.

It’s always helpful to hear from you (and learn more about you) so I’m sending a biannual version of our usual annual reader feedback survey.

If you have 5 minutes this Sunday, let us know how we're doing and where we can improve.

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)

💡

Sponsored Content

The global financial system wasn’t built for today’s borderless economy – legacy infrastructure is still holding businesses back. Airwallex exists to change that, with a platform that delivers faster transactions, local payment access, and lower operating coststhan the status quo.

We’ve just raised our Series F to accelerate our expansion. Learn more about the journey from our CEO:

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.

📖 Reads of the Week

The private credit industry has been growing prodigiously over the past few years, with firms increasing their allocations, increasingly raising funds from banks, insurers, and pensions, replacing the corporate debt practices that banks themselves used to undertake, chasing opportunities further and further down the credit spectrum, and reselling their exposure to retail investors ('democratization').

Sound familiar? Credit is a well-known amplifier of financial crises. It remains to be seen how systemic the quickly-growing private credit market becomes to mom-and-pop savers and investors.

☯️ Exits

💻 IPOs & SPACs

Backers of stablecoin issuer Circle sought to raise up to $896 million by increasing the size of the company’s planned IPO – and it wasn't enough!
- After 3x'ing on Thursday, the shares climbed another 48% on Friday, at one point as high as $123.49 after going to market at a $31 share price.
- Its current market cap sits at around $22 billion at a share price of $115.
- It was the 7th biggest underpricing of an IPO in decades.
- Investors like Blackrock and Ark piled into the offering.
- Circle by the numbers:
  - 2024 Revenue: $1.7 billion
  - 2024 Net Income: $155.7 million
  - Q1 2025 Revenue: $578.6 million
  - Q1 2025 Net Income: $64.8 million
  - USDC in Circulation (as of May 2025): $61 billion
Chime, the digital banking startup, is targeting a $9.5 billion to $11.2 billion valuation in its upcoming U.S. IPO. The listing marked a significant step for Chime as it aimed to become a public fintech leader after years of rapid user growth.
UK-based fintech Wise announced plans to shift its primary stock market listing to the U.S., dealing a blow to the London Stock Exchange. The company will pursue a split listing between both markets.
Crypto firm Gemini confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, signaling its intent to go public amid improving sentiment in the digital asset space. The filing underscored Gemini’s efforts to regain momentum after a turbulent 2023.
Several F-Prime portfolio companies, including Stripe and Klarna, moved closer to potential IPOs in 2025. The firm’s strong fintech pipeline positioned it for multiple exits in a rebounding public markets environment.
SPAC FG Merger III filed for a $150 million IPO to target businesses in the financial services sector.

🤝 M&A - Fintech

dLocal announced plans to acquire Africa-focused fintech AZA Finance, aiming to strengthen its cross-border payments infrastructure and presence in frontier markets.
FalconX acquired a majority stake in hedge fund Monarq, expanding its services into active crypto asset management
TP ICAP acquired fixed income data platform Neptune Networks to establish a dealer-to-client credit business.
ePassi Group acquired UK-based employee benefits platform Zest, expanding its reach in the European employee benefits space.
SurePay secured a growth investment from Connected Capital to accelerate expansion across Europe and further develop its Confirmation of Payee and payment fraud prevention services.
Robinhood finalized its acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp for approximately $200 million in cash.
Quadient acquired French fintech Serensia, enhancing its digital financial automation offering across Europe.
Prosperity Partners completed its acquisition of Canadian wealth management firm Danaher Attig Plante, expanding its national network and assets under management.
Datasite acquired private markets intelligence platform Grata to enhance its deal-sourcing and M&A analytics capabilities for investment professionals.

🏦 M&A - Banks and Financial Institutions

IK Partners backed Irish wealth management firm Kestrel Capital, marking its first investment in the sector in Ireland. Kestrel manages over €1 billion in assets and plans to use the partnership to accelerate growth and expand its digital offering.
Arax Investment Partners acquired Schechter Investment Advisors, a Michigan-based wealth management firm with $1.7 billion in assets under management.
Franklin Templeton acquired private credit manager Apera Asset Management, strengthening its foothold in the European private markets space. The deal, part of Franklin Templeton’s ongoing alternative asset expansion, added over €2.5 billion in assets under management.
UniCredit secured EU clearance for its proposed €10 billion-plus acquisition of Italian rival Banco BPM.

Wow. Circle at $84/share implies:

- $22B company (Robinhood is ~$64B)
- 87x net income (#2 right behind Chime)
- 24.5x gross profit (#2 right behind $Hood)
~40% gross margin (lowest besides Square)
- 58% YoY growth (#1 in fintech comp)

Insane demand by retail / institutions for… https://t.co/iU7UL2LETw pic.twitter.com/wzSfT2zNmr
— Jon Ma (@jonbma) June 5, 2025

When someone like @awxjack, who built @airwallex, says this, it's worth thinking about and listening to.

(btw Jack, been a while! I'll drop a line when I'm in SF again 👋)

There are some material advantages, some edge-case benefits, and then some 'benefits' that aren't really… https://t.co/q9H93bFK7z
— Nik (@NikMilanovic) June 7, 2025