OPay Prices 16 Million Shares at $19, Suspends New York Trading Debut
Key Facts
OPay has suspended the start of trading in its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, which had been scheduled for October 30, 2026, despite pricing 16 million American depositary shares at $19 a share. The company said the delay is temporary and does not mean the listing has been cancelled, rejected or withdrawn. According to reports citing OPay on October 31, the suspension is tied to an additional regulatory requirement in a foreign jurisdiction and the need for formal non-objection related to the U.S. listing. The company did not name the jurisdiction. The offering, whose shares have already been priced, is therefore on hold pending completion of the regulatory requirement before trading can begin.
The company's position followed conflicting reports about the deal's status. An earlier report by Tribune Online said the offering would not proceed and the underwriting agreement had been terminated, while a later report by THISDAY described the suspension as temporary and cited OPay as saying it did not represent cancellation or rejection of the listing. The discrepancy means the company's latest wording does not match the earlier account that the agreement had been terminated. OPay's reported statement did not give an alternative date for the start of trading. The announced development therefore remains a suspension pending resolution of the requirement, while the company maintains that its listing plans have not been cancelled.
OPay set the offering price at $19 per American depositary share, with trading on the New York Stock Exchange scheduled to begin on October 30, 2026, according to the company's announcement published via PR Newswire. The offering included 16 million shares for sale by OPay. The terms highlight the difference between pricing the shares and beginning trading: the price and number of shares were announced, but trading did not start on the scheduled date after the launch was suspended. The information available in the pricing announcement did not state final proceeds actually received. Subsequent updates have focused on meeting the regulatory requirement that the company said halted the start of trading.
OPay's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed revenue accelerating ahead of the offering. Revenue was $467.1 million in the six months ended June 30, 2026, compared with $197.5 million in the same period of 2025. Net income also rose to $90.9 million, from $21.7 million a year earlier. The comparison reflects improvements in revenue and net income over six months, among the main financial indicators the company reported in its filing. The figures provide context on OPay's performance in the period before its attempted listing, alongside the regulatory suspension that delayed the start of trading.
Transaction activity was one of the stated sources of growth, with the platform's total transaction value rising to $339.1 billion in the first half of 2026, from $139.3 billion in the same period of 2025. Revenue from transaction services increased 86.9% to $130.6 million, from $69.9 million a year earlier. In its loan financing business, the company reported revenue of $236.1 million in the first half of 2026, up from $88.1 million in the first half of 2025. The volume of new loans originated in Nigeria also rose to $927.6 million, from $305.1 million in the comparable period. These indicators link revenue growth with the expansion in transaction and lending volumes reported by the company.
On its user base, OPay said in its filing that monthly active users totaled 50.1 million, while daily active users reached 26.8 million as of July 31, 2026. The ratio of daily active users to monthly active users was 54% on the same date. These figures provide a measure of recurring platform usage ahead of the proposed listing. As for the next step, Standard Bank announced on October 9, 2026, that it had signed an underwriting agreement to invest in OPay, with the investment to take place alongside or shortly after completion of the offering. The investment remains conditional on completion of the offering and receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals, while the available information did not announce a new trading start date.