UK P2P lender Funding Circle is reportedly lining up advisors for a bumper £1 billion-plus stock market flotation.
Sky News has learnt that the company has told investment banks that it will hold a beauty parade towards the end of the first quarter of 2018, with a listing possible as soon as the late autumn.
Launched in 2010, Funding Circle has advanced more than £5 billion in loans to borrowers over the past seven years. It has lent more than £1.7bn this year, with the US and Continental Europe showing rapid expansion.
The company, which has struck distribution deals with Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander, raised £82 million in January last year earning it a prized Unicorn status among top London fintech firms.
According to Sky News sources, a syndicate of investment banks is expected to be hired by the spring to steer the flotation, with some existing investors believing the company could be worth as much as £2bn.