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    SoftBank's PayPay prices IPO below range at $16 a share

    Synopsis

    PayPay on Wednesday priced ​its US initial public offering ​at $16 per share, below its targeted price range, as the US-Israeli war with ​Iran weighed on market sentiment. The IPO raised about $880 million based on 55 million American depositary receipts sold, valuing the Japanese digital wallet provider at $10.7 billion.

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    Reuters
    SoftBank Group-backed PayPay on Wednesday priced ​its US initial public offering ​at $16 per share, below its targeted price range, as the US-Israeli war with ​Iran weighed on market sentiment.

    The IPO raised about $880 million based on 55 million American depositary receipts sold, valuing the Japanese digital wallet provider at $10.7 billion.

    PayPay confirmed the pricing in a statement on its ‌website after Reuters reported ⁠the ⁠details earlier on Wednesday.


    PayPay was likely to price the IPO around the low end of the range, ​Reuters reported on Tuesday. It originally wanted to sell the shares at a target range of $17 to $20 ​apiece.

    The IPO comes as the US-Israeli war with Iran rattles global markets. The company delayed the launch of the roadshow this week before resuming it a day later as ​it reassessed market conditions, Reuters reported.

    The US IPO market ⁠is set to ‌rebound sharply this year after a bout of volatility. Goldman Sachs ​has forecast ​proceeds could quadruple to a record $160 billion in 2026, driven by ⁠a pipeline of large private companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic preparing ​potential debuts.

    PayPay would mark the first US listing of a ​SoftBank majority investment since the blockbuster IPO of Arm Holdings in 2023. SoftBank took the chip designer public at a valuation of $54.5 billion. Its market capitalization has since risen to more than $127 billion.

    Founded in 2018 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, PayPay entered the market by waiving transaction fees for small and medium-sized merchants for up ‌to three years to spur adoption. The company has since become one of Japan's most widely used digital wallets, with about 72 million registered users ​at the ​end of 2025.

    Visa, the ⁠Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority are anchoring the IPO by purchasing up to $220 million of PayPay's shares upon debut.

    PayPay has also played a ​role in Japan's push toward cashless payments, offering rebates and other incentives to encourage consumers to use its mobile app.

    The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "PAYP."

    Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan, Mizuho and Morgan Stanley are joint book-running managers for the offering.

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