OPay's Wall Street celebration ended without a single share changing hands. The payments company withdrew its New York initial public offering after its executives had already rung the opening bell, citing a regulatory inquiry in a foreign jurisdiction it has not identified.
The deal would have valued OPay at about $4 billion. It had priced 16 million American depositary shares at $19 each, putting the planned share sale at $304 million before expenses. Trading under the ticker OPAY was supposed to begin on October 30, with the offering expected to close on November 2.
Instead, the company and its banks agreed to end the deal. In a statement shared with Techpoint Africa, OPay said:
After careful consideration and discussions with the underwriters, OPay is determined that not proceeding with the offering at this time would be the most prudent course of action.
The company said the underwriting agreement dated October 29 had been terminated by mutual agreement. It has not given a date for another attempt at listing.
The explanation changed during the day
Earlier, OPay had described the problem as a temporary hold while it obtained a formal regulatory "No-Objection" connected to the U.S. listing. It said that requirement fell outside Nigeria's regulatory framework.
THISDAY, which reported the opening-bell ceremony and obtained that earlier response, quoted the company saying:
The Company wishes to emphasise that this development should not be misconstrued as a cancellation, rejection or reversal of its successful NYSE listing. Rather, it relates to an outstanding regulatory requirement in a foreign jurisdiction, which is being addressed through the appropriate channels.
The later decision went further than a delay to the first trade. OPay said it would not proceed with the offering and that the shares would not begin trading as scheduled.
It described the jurisdiction involved as immaterial to its core business and said it expected the inquiry to be resolved satisfactorily in the near future. The regulator, the country and the subject of the inquiry remain undisclosed in the statements reviewed.
Each depositary share in the proposed offering represented ten ordinary shares, according to the filing.
Other funding depended on the IPO closing
The reversal also puts a related investment on hold. OPay's October 23 prospectus set out a separate share purchase by Stanbic Africa Holdings, part of South Africa's Standard Bank Group, capped at $200 million and subject to additional limits.
That transaction depended on the public offering being completed and the investor receiving the required regulatory approvals. The filing therefore doesn't support treating the private placement as money OPay had already secured independently of the IPO.
The prospectus had also identified non-binding investor interest in up to $270 million of the public offering. Those expressions of interest did not guarantee purchases. The $19 offer price ultimately announced was the bottom of the proposed $19 to $21 range.
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Standard Bank were among the banks arranging the offering. The cancelled transaction leaves investors without a public trading price for OPay's shares, despite the bell-ringing photographs and the announced valuation.
OPay says everyday services are unaffected
The company says the inquiry has not affected its operations or customer service in Nigeria and its other markets. It also says the withdrawal should not be taken as a judgment on its business performance, financial condition or regulatory standing.
OPay launched in Nigeria in 2018 and now operates across Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia. Its services include payments, transfers, savings and credit, alongside tools for merchants to accept and manage payments.
Nigeria remains central to the business. The prospectus shows that the country generated $417.6 million, or 89.5%, of group revenue in the first six months of 2026.