• Cliff Equity
  • Posts
  • 📈 Revolut Snubs $65B, Keeps Its Cool

📈 Revolut Snubs $65B, Keeps Its Cool

Space NK Prepares for ÂŁ400m Buyer

May 02, 2025

This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes

In today’s stories:

  • Revolut Snubs $65B, Keeps Its Cool

  • Space NK Prepares for ÂŁ400m Buyer

  • NatWest’s 36% Profit Surge, Privatisation Near

The summary: Revolut’s giving investor frenzy the cold shoulder, calmly steering its own course with a tidy $500 million playbook as it gears up for a blockbuster IPO on its own terms.

The details:

  • Revolut gave a polite but firm “no, thanks” to a $65 billion valuation offer, showing it's not in the mood for a frothy price tag just yet — especially when it's got IPO ambitions on the horizon and a narrative to control.

  • Investors are practically hurling cheques at the fintech darling, with bids jumping from $45B to $65B in under a year — but CEO Nikolay Storonsky isn’t biting, preferring strategy over spectacle (and keeping his growing 25% stake nice and tidy).

  • Revolut's magic number? $500 million. That’s the sweet spot for secondary sales — enough to keep early backers and employees smiling, without letting valuations run wild or the equity pool look like a free-for-all.

  • By rejecting this juicy offer, Revolut isn’t playing hard to get — it’s playing long-term. Think: employee windfalls, IPO prep, and a cap table that’s still elegantly dressed, not dragged through a hedge fund free-for-all.

Why it matters: Revolut’s refusal to cash in at $65 billion shows it’s not just chasing headlines — it’s playing chess while others play chequebook. By sticking to its $500 million ticket size, it’s giving early investors a pat on the back without flinging open the equity floodgates. It’s a lesson in fintech finesse: keep control, keep calm, and queue the IPO when you’re ready — not when the City’s waving dollar signs.

The summary: Space NK’s strutting back onto the auction catwalk with a £400m price tag, proving that even in a wobbly economy, luxury beauty still turns heads.

The details:

  • Beauty on the block (again): Space NK’s owner, Manzanita Capital, has finally pressed “go” on a formal sale, after flirting with the idea since April 2024—just don’t expect them to part with it for peanuts.

  • Price tag with polish: The chic high street chain could fetch between ÂŁ300m and ÂŁ400m, provided someone’s wallet (and appetite for skincare) is big enough.

  • Still glowing: Despite the UK’s economic wobble, insiders say Space NK is in good financial nick—more glossier than gloomy.

  • A history of hesitation: Manzanita’s been here before, eyeing a sale back in 2018 but pulling out last minute—so don’t count your serums before they’re sold.

Why it matters: Space NK being up for grabs—again—signals there's still serious demand (and dosh) for premium beauty, even when everyone’s tightening their belts. If a buyer bites at £400m, it suggests luxury skincare hasn’t lost its shine, no matter how gloomy the high street looks. And let’s be honest: when a company flirts with a sale this often, it’s either finally ready to settle down—or just loves the attention.

The summary: NatWest’s profits soar as it shakes off government ownership, while rival banks like Lloyds and HSBC brace for the impact of tariffs and economic uncertainty—seems like the financial world’s got a bit of a rollercoaster season ahead!

The details:

  • NatWest's back in the money – a juicy ÂŁ1.8bn in pre-tax profit (up 36%), beating forecasts and giving shareholders something to polish their monocles over, just as the government quietly shrinks its stake to under 2%, nearly 17 years after the 2008 bailout.

  • Taxpayer tab nearly closed – after forking out ÂŁ46bn during the financial crisis, the public’s ownership of the former RBS is almost history; NatWest chair offered a polite thank-you and promised not to go wild now the training wheels are off.

  • Standard Chartered sailing smoothly-ish – a 10% bump in profits, though a $219m credit impairment hints at stormy seas ahead thanks to Trump-era tariff talk and a bit of global economic unease.

  • Meanwhile at the other banks – Lloyds and HSBC both had a wobble: Lloyds down 7% and bracing for bad debt, HSBC off 25% thanks to last year's big one-off gains, with both nervously eyeing those pesky tariffs.

Why it matters: NatWest’s profits and near-full privatisation mark the end of a 17-year taxpayer babysitting job—finally, the government's piggy bank might breathe a sigh of relief. While NatWest toasts its comeback, rivals like Lloyds and HSBC are busy building tariff bunkers and fretting over dodgy debts. It’s a tale of one bank’s glow-up while the others tighten their belts and hope Donald Trump doesn’t sneeze on the global economy again.