Nubank denies pursuing Monzo deal after reports valued fintech at up to £10 billion

"As a matter of general practice, the company does not comment on specific opportunities," Nu Holdings said in the filing, before making an exception "given the extent of recent media speculation" ^[2][1]. In Mexico, Nubank already has more than 15 million customers and, since July, permission to operate as a bank ^[13]. TechFundingNews described a Monzo purchase as a fix for a problem Nubank cannot solve by itself ^[8]. Its main European office is a technology and engineering centre in Berlin ^[12]. Nu Holdings has a market value of $65.5 billion ^[16], and the same report said any deal would probably have been paid in a mix of cash and shares ^[21].

Both routes Monzo has left sell minority positions ^[5]. The private equity route has a stated size of up to 15%. At £8 billion to £10 billion, that is £1.2 billion to £1.5 billion of stock ^[17]. A fund writing that cheque gets a share of earnings. It does not get a licence or a customer base to fold into its own. Monzo's £87.3 million pretax profit on £1.7 billion of revenue ^[9] works out to a margin of about 5.1% ^[19]. An £8 billion price is about 92 times that profit, and £10 billion is about 115 times ^[18]. The bank's first full-year profit came in 2024 ^[14].

I think the top of the £8 billion to £10 billion range belonged to a strategic bidder, and that minority money will price nearer the bottom or below it. The reporting itself contains the counter-case. TechFundingNews, citing Sky News, said that raising new money to expand in Europe also valued Monzo above £8 billion ^[20][7]. If that is right, the floor was set without Nubank, and the filing removes only the upper end of the range (or rather, it removes the one bidder with a reported reason to pay that much).

Private equity paying £8 billion or more for its stake would prove this view wrong. A venture-style round would prove less. Investors in that kind of round take smaller shares ^[5], so a high price per share costs them less in total. Anything below £8 billion, or a return to the listing that Morgan Stanley bankers spent much of last year preparing ^[10], would mean the figure needed a buyer like Nubank. Morgan Stanley and Qatalyst are running the process ^[11]. Diana Layfield, chief executive since February, has been cutting back Monzo's US business ^[15].