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Interswitch, a Lagos-based integrated digital payments and commerce company, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) via a dual listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The IPO is expected to take place before the end of the year.

The payment processing company, per a Bloomberg report, has hired JPMorgan Chase and Co. and Standard Bank Group to work on the IPO. According to people familiar with the matter, Interswitch might go public at a market valuation between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion.

The suggested dual listing would come on the heels of the IPO of different African companies, including the recent primary listing of Airtel Africa on the LSE and its secondary listing on the NSE. Similarly, MTN Nigeria listed by introduction on the NSE. While Jumia debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, Naspers’ Multichoice and Econet’s Cassava Smartech listed on their respective local bourses, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Interswitch first announced plans for a dual listing on the NSE and the LSE in 2015 but cancelled the plans as a result of exchange rate crisis. Similarly, plans to list in 2017 were cancelled in 2016 when Nigeria’s economy slipped into a recession.

London-based private equity group, Helios Investment Partners, owns 70 per cent of Interswitch. Other shareholders include Adlevo Capital Managers and the International Finance Corporation.

With a successful dual listing of Interswitch, the company will become the third to do so, after Seplat and Airtel. Listing the shares of Interswitch on the NSE will also boost the diversification of the Nigerian bourse.