PicPay IPO: Brazilian Payments Platform Files for Nasdaq Listing

PicPay Files for IPO, Seeking Up to $100 Million

Brazilian mobile payments application PicPay submitted a Form F-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, outlining plans for an initial public offering with a potential valuation reaching $100 million.

Nasdaq Listing Planned

The company intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange, utilizing the ticker symbol PICS.

A Multifaceted Financial Platform

PicPay functions primarily as a comprehensive financial services platform. It offers a range of features including a credit card, a digital wallet comparable to Apple Pay, a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment system akin to Venmo, alongside e-commerce and social networking capabilities.

José Antonio Batista, CEO of PicPay, stated the company’s ambition: “We aim to redefine interactions, transactions, and communication for both individuals and businesses, delivering an experience that is intelligent, connected, and streamlined.”

Company History and Ownership

Originally launched in 2012 in Vitória, a coastal city located north of Rio de Janeiro, PicPay is currently headquartered in São Paulo and operates throughout Brazil.

In 2015, the company was acquired by J&F Investimentos SA, a holding company controlled by Brazilian billionaires Wesley and Joesley Batista. These brothers also hold ownership of JBS SA, a major meatpacking corporation.

Past Legal Challenges for J&F Investimentos

The company’s registration statement reveals that J&F was implicated in Brazil’s largest corruption scandal, known as “The Car Wash.” In 2017, a plea agreement was reached with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor.

As part of the agreement, J&F committed to paying a $1.5 billion fine and contributing an additional $442.6 million towards social projects within Brazil. Despite this, J&F remains a significant and influential conglomerate, providing substantial support to PicPay.

Significant Growth in Recent Years

PicPay experienced substantial growth in 2020. Its active user base increased from 28.4 million to 36 million by March 2021.

The company’s revenues also saw a dramatic rise, growing from $15.5 million in 2019 to $71 million in 2020, as detailed in PicPay’s 2020 financial report shared with TechCrunch.

Currently, the company is not operating at a profit. In 2020, PicPay invested $146 million to facilitate its expansion.

Batista further explained, “We are confident that the expansion of our user base and increased user engagement within our ecosystem demonstrate the scalability of our business model and highlight a considerable opportunity to create further value for our customers.”

Brazil's Fintech Landscape

The fintech sector is currently thriving in Brazil due to the potential for improvement within the region’s financial systems.

Historically, the country’s financial sector has been dominated by four major banks, which have been perceived as slow to adopt new technologies and often impose high fees.

IPO Underwriting

The initial public offering is being managed by a consortium of financial institutions, including Banco Bradesco BBI, Banco BTG Pactual, Santander Investment Securities Inc., and Barclays Capital Inc.

*The exchange rate between the Brazilian Real and the US dollar was 5.50 BRL to 1 USD on the date of this publication.