Qiwi, a leading Russian payment operator, has picked Credit Suisse and JPMorgan for a New York IPO which it plans for the middle of next year, Reuters learned from “three sources familiar with the matter.”
The company plans to float between 25 and 30% of its shares while the IPO would value it at $1 billion, the sources said.
The company’s press service confirmed that the company could become public in the long term but denied there were immediate plans for an IPO, Reuters reported.
Qiwi dominates the Russian market of cash payment terminals with over 120,000 machines across the country. Russians use them to pay for virtually everything from mobile phone bills to utilities, taxes, and fines.
Over the last few years, the company has gone online, providing its users with electronic wallets and offering new products in partnership with VISA. Qiwi has also started operations in a range of other countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa.
A majority stake of the company is owned by the management, while the Mail.ru Group and Japan’s Mitsui own minority stakes.
