OPay Suspends $304 Million IPO After NYSE Debut Draws No Trades

OPay’s planned $304 million U.S. listing is on hold after no shares traded during its New York Stock Exchange debut Friday, Oct. 30, and the exchange halted trading that afternoon.

The Nigerian payments company said Saturday it had agreed with its underwriters to suspend the underwriting agreement signed Oct. 29. OPay cited an investigation by a regulator in a jurisdiction it described as outside its core markets, but did not name the jurisdiction or explain the inquiry. The company said its American depositary shares would not list on the NYSE as scheduled.

OPay priced 16 million ADS at $19 each, the bottom of its $19-to-$21 range, for a planned $304 million raise. The NYSE halted trading at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday with no transactions recorded.

OPay said the investigation was unrelated to its business performance, financial condition or regulatory standing, and that services in Nigeria, Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan continued normally. The offering had been scheduled to close Monday, Nov. 2. OPay had also planned a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange after the U.S. offering.