OPay makes 11^th-hour suspension of its New York IPO

Payment services provider OPay Ltd. (OPAY.US) made an 11^th-hour suspension of its $300 million New York IPO that was set to debut on Friday, in response to a regulatory inquiry from a foreign jurisdiction it did not identify, according to media reports.

Earlier on Friday, the company, which offers payment services in Nigeria, said it would sell 16 million American depositary shares (ADS) for $19 each. The shares were set to start trading that day, but the stock was suspended before the debut.

OPay described the jurisdiction that made the inquiry “immaterial” to its business, but did not name the jurisdiction, according to a Reuters report, citing a statement from the company. OPay said it expects the matter to be resolved in a satisfactory manner in the near future, and its operations were not affected.

OPay is based in Singapore and conducts much of its business in Nigeria, where it provides its core payment services. Several of the company’s core team are originally from China, including billionaire founder Zhou Yahui, who is also founder of Kunlun Tech. OPay has stressed it has no connection with the China market. In its IPO prospectus it said it does not believe its New York listing required approval by China’s securities regulator, which must usually approve all offshore listings by Chinese companies.

By Doug Young

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