Last checked at 
(Adds detail on valuation)
By Pamela Barbaglia and Abhinav Ramnarayan
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - British fintech firm Wise said
on Thursday it plans to go public with one of the first direct
listings on the London Stock Exchange.
The London-based payments app said it is opting to list
without raising any funds, in a boost to the British
government's aspirations to attract more technology firms to its
capital markets.
It has been a volatile year so far for stock market listings
in Europe, with at least two initial public offerings (IPO)
cancelled in recent weeks.
"Wise is used to challenging convention, and this listing is
no exception. A direct listing allows us a cheaper and more
transparent way to broaden Wise's ownership, aligned with our
mission," its co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann said.
The listing could value Wise, formerly known as
TransferWise, at anywhere between $6 billion to $7 billion,
sources told Reuters, in what would be one of the biggest floats
this year.
Wise said in a statement that it has been profitable since
2017, with a 54% annual revenue growth rate over the last three
years, reaching 421 million pounds ($589 million) in overall
sales in 2021.
In 2021, the payments app moved 54.4 billion pounds across
borders for 6 million customers.
The listing is expected to be finalised on July 5, with Wise
aiming for a freefloat of at least 25%, a bookrunner said.
In London, IPOs from Deliveroo and Alphawave both tanked on
their stock market debuts, and are trading well below their
listing prices.
DUAL-CLASS
Wise was founded in 2010 by Käärmann, a former consultant at
PwC and Deloitte, and fellow Estonian Taavet Hinrikus, who was
previously director of strategy at Skype.
They have opted for a dual class share structure which will
allow them to retain voting control while bringing customers and
"other like-minded investors" into its shareholder base.
"We are here for a long term mission. For the transition
period of five years we are setting up this structure so we can
focus on this mission," Käärmann said.
This structure may reignite debate among investors in
Britain earlier this year over Deliveroo's listing.
Dual-class share structures are a common feature of listed
technology companies in the United States but are frowned on by
some British investors as they can give executives outsized
influence on shareholder votes relative to their stake sizes.
At present, London-listed companies cannot have a dual-class
structure and gain access to the lucrative FTSE indices at the
same time, though that is set to change if recommendations from
a recent listings review are put in place.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays
are lead financial advisers on the deal, with Citigroup
acting as co-adviser.
($1 = 0.7151 pounds)
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Abhinav Ramnarayan
Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith)
