VersaBank plans Nasdaq IPO

Canadian fintech VersaBank has filed for a US$50-million initial public offering and aims to list on the Nasdaq.

The London, Ont.–based  digital bank, which also filed a preliminary prospectus locally, went public in Canada in 2013 (and became known as VersaBank in 2016).

The company trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “VB” and has applied to trade as “VBNK” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

According to its prospectus, the proceeds of the deal will be used for general banking purposes and will qualify as tier 1 capital for the bank.

“Following this offering, we intend to continue pursuing other opportunities to expand our lending platform, including potentially expanding our point-of-sale financing business into the U.S.,” it said in its filing with regulators.

Additionally, the firm’s strategy includes reducing its cost of funding and pursuing acquisitions that “will allow us to leverage the scalability of our fully digital platform and to expand our geographic and market footprint, including in the United States.”

The offering is being led by Raymond James & Associates, Inc. as sole bookrunning manager and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. as co-manager.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.