Year: 2022

Winner: Nubank

The winner of the award for IPO of the Year was the largest deal of its kind in 2021 in Latin
America – and also one of the last to launch before markets nosedived in 2022.
In December 2021, digital bank Nubank decided to go public by listing its shares on the New
York Stock Exchange with a concomitant issuance of Brazilian Depository Receipts (BDRs) in
São Paulo, raising $2.6 billion in the process. It valued the company at $42 billion at the time.
It was the largest IPO by a fintech company in the past decade, and one of the ten largest ever
by a tech company, according to Goldman Sachs. Nubank claims the deal represented the
largest market cap at IPO for a Latin American company, the largest US IPO of a Latin
American Company since 2012, and the first US IPO with a concurrent offering in Brazilian
reais.
The timing was a crucial, as investors were hungry for tech stocks at the time – a sentiment
that has since changed dramatically.
“We thought the time was right for us to do the IPO. Not only was the company ready to
access the public markets, but the markets were receptive to our story,” says Nubank CFO
Guilherme Lago. “We had acquired a strong track record, having become one of the largest
financial institutions in Latin America and one of the largest digital banking platforms in the
world.”
The capital raise was undertaken at a time when Nubank had more than 40 million clients and
was preparing the launching of new products and platforms. It was also developing the
business in new markets outside of Brazil. Even still, the company went to great lengths to
explain to investors the value of the bank’s business model.
“We started working on our relationship with public equity investors approximately two years
prior to our IPO and undertook a number of non-deal roadshows in the 24-month period
leading up to the IPO,” Lago says. “By the time we launched the roadshow of the equity
offering, we were meeting most investors for the second or third time.”
Another noteworthy feature of the process was the decision by Nubank to open it up to its
clients. The bank devised an incentive and reward program, branded “NuSócios”, where one
real was delivered to each customer who agreed to participate in the program.
“NuSócios ended up benefiting nearly 8 million individuals in Brazil, the vast majority of
which had never invested in equities in their life,” Lago says. “This was a milestone in their
financial education.” LF

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:
Active Bookrunners: Morgan Stanley; Goldman Sachs; Citi; NuInvest
Passive Bookrunners: Allen & Co; HSBC; UBS; Safra
Co-Managers: Autonomous; KeyBanc Capital Markets; Nau Securities; Nomura; Numis;
Susquehanna Financial Group
Issuer’s Legal Advisors: Campbells; Davis Polk; Pinheiro Neto
Underwriters’ Legal Advisors: Mattos Filho; White & Case; Marrey Junior e Quiroa
Advogados; Veiga Filho


All supporting financial institutions and law firms were transmitted to LatinFinance by the
award category winners. For updates please email awards@latinfinance.com