German insurance giant Allianz is looking to sell its five per cent stake in digital bank N26 at a sharp discount, according to the Financial Times.
The insurer's venture capital arm has called in an adviser to hawk its stake at a $3 billion valuation, down from N26's $9 billion price tag at its latest funding round in October 2021, says the FT, citing sources.
That October round saw N26 raise $900 million ahead of a planned IPO which was quickly shelved amid plummeting tech valuations.
Launched in Germany and Austria in January 2015, N26 began as a current account with a Mastercard. It has since moved into areas such as crypto and stock trading, attracting more than seven million customers in two dozen countries.
Despite its heady valuation and strong customer numbers, the company has faced some stiff headwinds over the last couple of years and in October reported a net loss for the year of €172.4 million, 14.45% up on the previous year.
This March it lost chief risk officer Thomas Grosse, the third C-suite executive to leave in the last 12 months, following in the footsteps of chief financial officer Jan Kemper chief operating officer Adrienne Gormley.
The firm is also dealing with a cap imposed by German regulators on the number of new customers it is allowed to onboard each month. The cap was imposed, alongside a fine, in 2021 for lax money laundering controls.