Revolut’s founder is set to cash in part of his multibillion-dollar stake in the company in a $500m (£391m) share sale.
Sky News has learned that Nik Storonsky, who is the fintech giant’s chief executive, plans to offload tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares in a secondary deal in the coming weeks.
City sources said the size of its sale would depend on the valuation Revolut is able to obtain from new investors, as well as final allocation decisions by the company and its advisers Morgan Stanley.
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The exact size of Mr Storonsky’s stake is unclear, although at the $40bn (£31bn) valuation that Revolut hopes to attract, it would be worth several billion dollars.
Sky News revealed last month that Revolut had hired Morgan Stanley to organize a secondary share sale, and that it would be no less than the $33bn (£26bn) valuation at which it raised primary funding in 2021.
While the fintech, which has more than 40 million customers, does not plan to raise new capital in the deal, any major share sale will continue to be closely watched across the global fintech sector.
It is assumed that it will be limited to company employees.
Last week, Revolut revealed record earnings of £438m last year on revenue that almost doubled to £1.8bn.
Founded in 2015, the company has experienced a number of regulatory and compliance issues, with reports last year highlighting its release of funds from accounts flagged as suspicious by the National Crime Agency.
The company’s growth has been at breakneck speed, growing from 16.4 million customers at the time of its Series E fundraising nearly three years ago.
Insiders said that despite a protracted decline in tech valuations over the past two years, Revolut’s relentless expansion could easily justify maintaining its status as Britain’s most valuable fintech.
Monzo, the British digital bank, recently confirmed a Sky News report that it had closed a funding round worth nearly £500 million, including backing from an arm of Google owner Alphabet and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
Elsewhere, however, the funding landscape has been bleaker, with a growing number of tech companies that have attracted unicorn valuations of more than $1 billion now struggling to stay afloat.
Revolut granted stock options to many of its 10,000 employees as part of their compensation packages, although it was unclear how many would be eligible for equity in the deal later this year.
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A source close to the company said it has had a number of expressions of interest from potential investors.
Revolut’s current shareholders include SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Tiger Global.
News of the proposed share sale comes as Revolut investors continue to await positive news on its application for a UK banking licence.
The company asked regulators to become a bank in Britain more than three years ago, but has so far failed to win approval.
Storonsky has publicly criticized the delay and last year questioned the approach of UK regulators and politicians when he suggested he would not consider listing on the London Stock Exchange.
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One person close to Revolut said other board members could also participate in the secondary sale of shares.
The company is chaired by Martin Gilbert, a City veteran who faced governance and performance challenges at AssetCo, the London-listed asset manager he leads.
Its other directors include Michael Sherwood, a former Goldman Sachs executive who was jointly responsible for its non-US operations and who was regarded as one of the most skilled traders of his generation.
The company’s outside shareholder said excluding the unemployed from the deal could draw criticism from some investors.
Revolut has done secondary share sales of this kind in the past, including after its Series E round in 2021.
Revolut declined to comment.