Sovereign wealth funds from the UAE and Qatar are making a significant move into the global fintech market, committing to be cornerstone investors in the upcoming $1.1 billion US IPO of Japanese digital payments leader, PayPay Corporation.
Strategic Cornerstone Investment
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Qatar Holding, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), have agreed to purchase shares worth a combined total of up to $220 million. They join global payments giant Visa International Service Association in backing the flotation.
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the specific individual contributions from the Gulf funds were not disclosed. The investment underscores the growing appetite of MENA’s largest institutional investors for high-growth international technology assets.
IPO Details And Financial Strength
The initial public offering will see PayPay Corporation sell 31.1 million US depositary shares, while an arm of its major backer, SoftBank Vision Fund II, will offload 23.9 million shares on the Nasdaq exchange. The filing indicates an expected price range of $17 to $20 per share.
The move to go public comes on the back of impressive financial performance. For the nine months of 2025, PayPay reported a remarkable 255% year-on-year increase in profit to ¥103.3 billion ($656 million), with revenue climbing 26% to ¥278.5 billion.
Gulf Funds Diversify Global Tech Portfolios
This investment is part of a broader trend of Gulf sovereign funds actively participating in major global IPOs to diversify their portfolios.
For ADIA, this is the latest in a series of strategic cornerstone investments. The Abu Dhabi-based fund recently joined the IPO of Indian renewable energy company Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions as an anchor investor. It also backed the successful IPO of Chinese AI startup MiniMax, which saw its share price double on its first day of trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
About PayPay Corporation
PayPay Corporation is a leading Japanese digital payment company established as a joint venture between SoftBank Group Corp., SoftBank Corp., and Yahoo Japan Corporation. Launched in 2018, its QR code and barcode-based payment service has rapidly grown to become one of the most widely used mobile payment platforms in Japan, serving tens of millions of users.
Source: AGBI
