Brazilian digital bank PicPay listed in New York

Brazilian digital bank PicPay, controlled by the family of billionaire Batista, debuted on January 29 on the US stock exchange Nasdaq after raising $434 million in an initial public offering (IPO), the first listing of shares by a Brazilian company in more than four years, according to Reuters.

Founded in 2012 and acquired three years later by J&F Investimentos - the holding company behind the world's largest meat producer and processor JBS (listed on the New York Stock Exchange), PicPay sold 22.86 million shares on January 28 at a price of $19 per share. The shares trade under the ticker symbol "PICS".

The offering, which involves a dilution of about 21% for existing shareholders, valued the company at about $2.6 billion, according to Valor Economico.

The company has given underwriters a 30-day option to buy additional shares at the IPO price, which could raise the value of the transaction to about $500 million.

PicPay's listing was a victory for brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista, who retain more than 90% of the voting power in the bank. Their empire spans meat, energy, mining, fintech, media, cosmetics and more, in at least 20 countries.

Bicycle Capital, a growth fund led by former SoftBank executives including Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure, has committed to investing $75 million in PicPay's offering, according to a filing.

The IPO, which PicPay previously explored but abandoned in 2021, was led by Citigroup, Bank of America and Royal Bank of Canada.

Last week, PicPay CEO Eduardo Chedid told Nasdaq that the bank is looking into issuing Brazilian depositary receipts representing its U.S.-listed shares, but will maintain its exclusive focus on Brazil for the next two to three years. Proceeds from the recent offering will fund new app services.

"We expect to see increased use of credit products by our individual and corporate customers,” Chedid added.

PicPay is also awaiting government approval to launch a sports betting service.

• More Brazilian IPOs expected

The PicPay offering could open the door to more IPOs from Brazilian companies.

Anderson Brito, head of UBS BB's investment banking division in Brazil, said a survey of institutional investors expects more than a dozen Brazilian IPOs in 2026, either in Brazil or abroad.

Fintech firm Agibank, which was valued at 9.3 billion reais ($1.79 billion) at the end of 2024, filed for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange last month, according to Reuters.

Brazilian fintech companies in particular have been successful in U.S. listings. The most recent Brazilian IPO was digital bank Nubank, which debuted on the NYSE in late 2021, raising $2.6 billion at a valuation of more than $40 billion, making it the largest bank in Latin America by market capitalization.

The last listing on the Brazilian stock exchange was that of fertilizer producer Vittia, in September 2021.