Nu Holdings Denies Monzo Acquisition in SEC Filing, Shares Rebound After 10% Plunge
Nu Holdings Denies Monzo Acquisition in SEC Filing, Shares Rebound After 10% Plunge #
Nu Holdings, the Cayman Islands-based parent of Brazilian digital bank Nubank, has denied it is seeking to acquire UK neobank Monzo, ending several days of market speculation that had briefly erased billions of dollars from its market capitalization.
In a 6-K filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, 30 September, the company stated it “is not pursuing a transaction with Monzo.” The disclosure, issued from Grand Cayman, acknowledged that Nu regularly evaluates partnerships, investments and acquisitions as part of normal business operations. “While we have a great deal of respect for Monzo, the company is not pursuing a transaction with Monzo,” the filing read.
The denial followed reports from Sky News and Bloomberg over the weekend that Nu was in early-stage talks to purchase the London-headquartered neobank. Those reports placed Monzo’s valuation at between £8 billion and £10 billion (roughly $10.6 billion to $13.3 billion), with any deal likely to involve a combination of cash and Nu stock. At that price, a transaction would have represented a significant premium to Monzo’s last known valuation of £4.5 billion, set during a secondary share transaction in 2024.
Investors sold off Nu Holdings shares at Monday’s open. The stock closed down approximately 10% at $12.23 on volume of around 144 million shares, well above average daily trading levels. With more than 4.8 billion shares outstanding, the decline erased roughly $6.5 billion in market capitalization in a single session.
The SEC filing reversed those losses in after-hours trading on Wednesday, with Nu Holdings shares rising around 6% to approximately $13.43. The company used the disclosure to restate its strategic priorities: deepening its position in Brazil, expanding in Mexico and Colombia, and building out its US presence through Nu Global, the multi-currency digital account service launched in September 2026.
Monzo, which has more than 16 million customers and is advised by Morgan Stanley and Qatalyst Partners, had not publicly commented on the takeover speculation. Nu Holdings also declined to address whether any preliminary conversations had taken place before issuing the denial.
The episode comes as investors closely watch how Nu Holdings allocates capital during its international expansion.