Benzinga | Mar 23, 2021 02:54PM EDT

Peter Thiel-Backed AvidXchange Gears For IPO At High Valuations: Reuters

Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) co-founder Peter Thiel-backed business payments processor, AvidXchange Inc, engaged investment banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS), for an initial public offering (IPO) potentially valuing the company over $7 billion, Reuters reports.

* The AvidXchange business received a massive boost from lockdown-induced digital solutions embracement by smaller companies.

* The company aims to list on the stock exchange in the second quarter.

* Goldman, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), Bank Of America Corp (NYSE: BAC), and Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) are the IPO arrangers.

* Reportedly, AvidXchange could be valued between $5 billion and $7 billion in an IPO, possibly stretching to even $10 billion from the strong investor appetite for payments companies, exceeding the $2 billion valuations based on the April 2020 private fundraising round.

* AvidXchange's peers Bill.Com Holdings Inc (NYSE: BILL) and Coupa Software Inc (NASDAQ: COUP) have gained over 300% and 89% respectively in the last year amid the financial technology boom.

* Earlier this month, Swedish payments firm Klarna announced a new funding round at almost triple valuation.