Digital bank Monzo is in early-stage talks over a potential sale to Brazilian fintech giant Nubank that could value the UK digital bank at between £8bn and £10bn, casting fresh doubt over one of London's most anticipated fintech stock market debuts.

New York-listed Nu Holdings, Nubank's parent company, has reportedly approached Monzo about a possible combination, with the UK lender understood to have appointed Morgan Stanley and Qatalyst as advisers.

Any deal would effectively take a near-term London IPO off the table, although discussions are said to be at a preliminary stage and no agreement has been reached. Neither Monzo nor Nubank has commented on the weekend reports.

Monzo is also considering an alternative route, exploring a new funding round that could value the business at more than £8bn and provide capital for further expansion across mainland Europe.

The fast-growing challenger bank was last valued at £4.5bn in an employee share sale in October 2024. For the year to March 2026, it reported a 39% rise in revenue to £1.7bn and pre-tax profit of £87.3m.

As far as Nubank is concerned, a deal would provide an established foothold in Europe, alongside a UK banking licence and access to Monzo's more than 16 million customers. The Brazilian fintech, which is valued at around $65.5bn and serves roughly 135 million customers across Latin America, has far greater scale but only a limited presence in Europe.

Any takeover deal would have to be supported by Monzo shareholders, including Accel, GIC, Iconiq, Tencent, Google's CapitalG and Passion Capital.

The prospect of a sale is likely to be closely watched in the City, given Monzo's status as one of the UK's most prominent privately held fintech companies and a long-standing candidate for a London listing. Its acquisition by an overseas rival would represent another setback for efforts to attract and retain major technology and financial services listings on domestic markets.

Reports also suggest Monzo has received interest from private equity investors regarding a minority stake sale, offering a potential alternative source of growth capital as it pursues further international expansion.

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