£1.8bn fintech price tag

ONLINE lender Funding Circle is seeking a value of up to £1.8bn when it floats on the London Stock Exchange.

The firm, which lets ordinary people lend their cash directly to businesses and pocket the interest, is seeking to list at between 420p and 530p per share. This would value it at £1.5bn to £1.8bn.

Funding Circle is due to go public early next month, and will allow ordinary savers to take part in the float if they buy at least £1,000 of stock each. Investors who want to take part can use a range of trading platforms including Barclays Smart Investor and The Share Centre.

The business was set up by Oxford graduates Samir Desai, James Meekings and Andrew Mullinger, who will pocket a windfall from the float in the tens of millions of pounds.

The listing is also intended to raise £300m for Funding Circle.