By Prakhar Srivastava
Dec 2 (Reuters) – Automated digital wealth management firm Wealthfront is targeting a valuation of up to $2.05 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, it said on Tuesday, becoming the latest to test a trend of strong investor appetite for fintech listings.
The Palo Alto, California-based company plans to raise as much as $485 million by selling 34.6 million shares, including stock offered by existing shareholders, at a price range of $12 to $14 each.
Lukas Muehlbauer, a research analyst at IPOX, said Wealthfront is positioning itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and fintech, allowing it to “ride the current high-valuation wave for AI-adjacent technologies.”
This year, fintech companies such as Sweden’s Klarna, U.S. digital bank Chime and Israeli trading platform eToro have attracted strong demand on their market debuts.
The U.S. IPO market has recovered after a slowdown fueled by trade policy uncertainty, as rising odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut have boosted investor demand for fresh offerings.
“Demand for new listings remains high, but a bad news cycle can still dampen sentiment, as seen several times this year,” Muehlbauer said.
Wealthfront, founded in 2008, provides automated tools and software for cash accounts, low-cost loans and investing in ETFs and bonds, as well as planning tools tailored to Millennial and Gen Z clients.
Funds run by BlackRock and Wellington Management indicated an interest in buying up to $150 million of IPO shares, according to the filing.
Wealthfront intends to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the “WLTH” symbol. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup are among the underwriters for the offering.
In 2022, Wealthfront was valued at $1.4 billion when a planned sale to Swiss bank UBS collapsed following reported shareholder pushback.
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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