Geopolitical tensions reportedly delay IPO plans for SoftBank-backed PayPay

PayPay, Japan’s top mobile payments app, has reportedly pushed back its planned U.S. initial public offering because of market instability and the recent conflict in the Middle East.

The company had been expected to announce its IPO price range on Monday, March 2. According to Bloomberg, PayPay was targeting a valuation of at least ¥1.5 trillion, or about $10 billion.

PayPay was established in 2018 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, with technical support from Paytm in India. In late 2024, Paytm sold its remaining stake in the company to SoftBank for roughly $279 million.

Although 2026 began with strong expectations for a wave of tech IPOs, several companies pulled back or delayed their listing plans after a sell-off in software stocks, driven by concerns that AI could eventually make traditional software businesses less valuable. Markets have also been rattled further by U.S. strikes on Iran and the related turmoil affecting other countries in the region.

In January, Motive Technologies, a Kleiner Perkins-backed company that makes dashboard cameras for long-haul trucks, delayed its IPO, according to The Information. Clear Street, a technology-focused brokerage firm, also abandoned its IPO plans last month.

While the window for smaller public listings is effectively frozen for now, public market investors are still looking ahead to three potential “mega-IPOs” in 2026: SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic.