Klarna, a buy-now-pay-later credit provider, is about to announce an $800 million fundraising round at a valuation below $6 billion, worsening public market sentiment toward tech companies.
Sky News has learned that Klarna, based in Sweden, is expected to announce as soon as this week that it has received funding from existing investors and new backers, which may including Canada’s largest pension fund.
Sources said Sunday that the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala have been in talks with Klarna in recent weeks about participating in the fundraising.
At $800 million, the size of the funding round was larger than predicted in recent weeks.
The new capital injection is underway with a pre-money valuation of less than $6 billion, 15 percent less than Klarna’s $45.6 billion valuation just two years ago.
That would put Klarna at a post-money valuation of about $6.7 billion, according to one source.
The company’s valuation has fallen in recent weeks, with various reports suggesting that Klarna’s chief executive, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, is trying to secure capital at $30 billion, then $15 billion. dollars and then a $10 billion valuation.
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Existing Klarna backers including Sequoia Capital and Silver Lake are reportedly planning to participate in the latest round of funding for a company that has grown at breakneck speed in recent years to become a one of Europe’s most valuable technology companies.
Its other shareholders include SoftBank’s Vision Fund.
Its dwindling valuation is partly the result of changing economic circumstances, with investors increasingly moving away from tech-focused growth companies, in part increasing regulatory scrutiny and part is the emergence of giants like Apple in the field of buy now, pay later.
“We do not comment on fundraising nor valuation speculation,” a Klarna spokesman said.
CPPIB declined to comment.
