Sezzle's U.S. stock market debut complicated by its Australian trading

Minneapolis-based Sezzle Inc. is working to resolve issues Nasdaq has regarding the company's stock after trading halted two hours after its debut Thursday on the U.S. stock market.

Nasdaq officials told the company there are an "inadequate" number of publicly available shares of common stock to facilitate "proper trading" on the exchange, Sezzle wrote in a statement issued through the Australian Securities Exchange.

The problem appears to be in the number of shares tied up with the Australian exchange. The U.S. exchange indicated there are too many shares of common stock currently held by investors through Chess Depositary Interests, the financial mechanism used by American companies to trade on the Australian exchange, the statement said.

"Sezzle is working with Nasdaq to resolve the matter as soon as practicable to resume trading," the company wrote. Sezzle has traded on the Australian exchange since 2019.

Minneapolis-based Sezzle is a big player in the growing buy-now-pay-later sector. Its stock quickly shot up 258% to $81.08 per share before trading was halted on Thursday.

Sezzle's stock did not resume trading on Friday on the Nasdaq market.

A representative of the Nasdaq exchange declined comment.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a trading halt typically lasts less than an hour. Sometimes trading halts are due to the volatility of a stock's price.

Washington D.C.-based FINRA is authorized by Congress to help safeguard financial markets.

Sezzle is not the only Minnesota company to go public on the Australia exchange. Minnetonka-based Osprey Medical Inc., for example, launched an initial public offering in Australia in 2012. The company's CEO Mike McCormick said that without U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its medical-technology device, the Australian market was more receptive.

Osprey Medical is not traded on any U.S. exchanges.