Zilch adds £165M in debt as it lines up a London IPO
What's the deal? UK fintech Zilch has secured £165 million in new debt, led by Deutsche Bank, as it prepares for a possible London flotation. The facility lifts Zilch's total securitisation and corporate debt capacity to almost £400 million and supports a stated annual lending capacity of £6 billion.
Why it's notable: The raise ranks in the 96th percentile for debt rounds among UK marketing-sector companies, by all-time size across a sample of 129 deals. It is debt to fund lending — not fresh equity or a valuation reset.
What's the endgame? Co-founder and chief executive Philip Belamant is progressing plans for an IPO that could come as soon as next year, and the company is selecting investment banks for the listing. Zilch was valued at about $2 billion in its last round, and Belamant has said it "feels pretty good" about holding that price tag on the public markets.
What Belamant says: "As we continue to grow at significant scale, having access to efficient funding is a key parameter for success," he said, adding the expanded facilities give Zilch "greater capacity to support our customers where they need us."
The numbers: FY2026 revenue rose 36% to £147.5 million, and Zilch recently logged two consecutive quarters of adjusted pre-tax profit. But statutory pre-tax losses widened to £36 million, and credit impairments jumped 66% to £45.5 million as it set aside more cash for sour loans amid rapid customer growth.
What could go wrong? New Financial Conduct Authority rules for the UK buy-now-pay-later market took effect on 15 July 2026, bringing affordability checks and other consumer protections that could raise compliance demands. Ahead of any float, investors will weigh profitability and credit quality against the headline facility.
The signal: Zilch, which has over 6m registered customers and counts eBay, Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Ventura CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → among its backers, is using debt to prove funding access and scale as the sector enters its first era of formal UK regulation. The borrowing boost signals ambition, but execution under the new rules will decide what the listing is worth.
Read more: three.fm
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
