BREAKING: OPay post-IPO trading halted after raising $304 million

OPay, a Nigeria-focused payments platform, experienced a halt in its US initial public offering (IPO) trading on Friday, October 30 after raising $304 million. The exchange reported a trading halt with news pending, though no trades were executed during this period. The IPO pricing involved 16 million American depositary shares (ADSs) sold at $19 each, which was at the lower end of the company's announced price range of $19 to $21.

OPay's ADSs were expected to open between $16.25 and $16.75 each, both below the IPO price announced the previous day. Bloomberg did not disclose the reason behind the halt or the timeline for resuming trading. This incident marks the "first time" in exchange history that an IPO was pulled after bell ringing. Nairametrics, earlier, had reported that OPay priced its offering at $19 per ADS, valuing the digital financial services provider at approximately $4 billion.

The offering's ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange was OPAY, with trading scheduled to commence on October 30. Additionally, OPay plans to provide Nigerian investors access to its shares through a proposed secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, following approval by the company's board and shareholders.