SumUp employees who joined in 2020 might be sitting on millions ahead of IPO
Fintech IPOs aren't the hot topic they used to be but some firms are still intent on going public. SumUp, which provides payment infrastructure, has been toying with the idea since last September; it's now inviting banks to pitch their services for a European IPO. Those who have been working at SumUp for some time might stand to make a lot of money from it.
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SumUp is based in Luxembourg which means it doesn't have to release annual accounts, but it does so for its UK entities via Companies House. In accounts for 'SumUp Payments Limited', the firm breaks down how many stock options it granted to its employees and the price at which they were granted. Those working at SumUp in 2020 received their stock units for roughly 20 cents on the Euro.
SumUp was tight lipped about its valuation until it announced it was worth €8bn in 2022, but the firm said it had reached unicorn status by 2019. From 2020 to 2024, however, the average price of granted units in SumUp Payments Limited increased by more than 20x. Given that SumUp is eyeing a valuation of ~$10bn (€8.6bn), it seems those early employees got a particularly good deal. Stock pay in prior years is not disclosed but may be similarly discounted.
A price-per share for SumUp's IPO has yet to be touted. If we take 2024's average grant price as an estimate, the 16 employees who worked within that entity in 2020 would have been granted €4.4m, or €275k per head for that year's work alone.
There are caveats. For one, as this is not the parent entity, these shares would need to be swapped with SumUp shares, which may not occur at a 1:1 ratio. For two, not all of the stock was actually vested; from 2021 to 2024, over 233,000 stock units at SumUp Payments Limited either expired or were forfeited.
Then, there's the dreaded lockup period. Usually existing shareholders are prohibited from selling their stock until six months after the public offering, at which point the value may be up... or down. We noted this after Figma went public last August; when its lockup period ended in February, the price was less than a quarter of its peak. SumUp staff will hope this fate doesn't await them.
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