Class of 2025? IPO hopes that could rouse London

This year is a crunch year for the London market. Nearly four years after Lord Hill’s review of the UK’s listing rules began reform efforts, the stock market is still falling.

New companies listed in London raised less money than those reported in 2024, with only $737mn according to Dealogic data, which highlights the difficulties of renewing the market. Fewer than 20 companies listed in the UK capital last year, the lowest number of additions to its stock market since the financial crisis in 2009.

As many companies choose to add or move listings to the US in search of more capital and higher rates, UK policymakers are quickly trying to revive London with regulatory changes and measures to encourage investment. of pensioners to invest in UK stocks.

Amid volatile markets and political uncertainty, the much-anticipated listing of fintech companies was delayed last year. Others, including eBay-backed payments company Zilch, are moving forward initial public offerings but not until 2026. Others, like the app app eToro and the buy-now-pay-later category Klarnaplan to publish in the US.

Those who led the effort to revive the UK market, led by the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Julia Hoggett, have maintained that the IPO market will take this year. But consultants are now saying, the hope that 2025 will be a boom year is gone.

The Financial Times has compiled a list of companies likely to list in London this year.

Fintech

Ebury

Spanish payments startup Santander has appointed investment banks including Goldman Sachs to lead work on a London IPO that could value the group at around £2bn.

Ebury was founded in 2009 by Spanish engineers Juan Lobato and Salvador García. It offers services including cross-border payments, remittances, financial risk management and business loans.

The diversification will be closely watched by the UK fintech sector following the poor performance of CAB Payments, whose shares fell more than 70 percent in just three months after its 2023 listing.

soup

SoftBank-backed digital almanac soup is expected to search the list after to achieve profit last year. The company was founded in 2005 as a peer-to-peer lender but has since branched out into banking and offers savings accounts, car finance and personal loans. It last topped $1bn in fundraising in December 2024.

Executive director Jaidev Janardana has previously hinted that he likes London as a location for the series. However, a person close to the company cautioned management against timing the IPO. Zopa could be ready to float soon, they said, but will wait for the right market conditions.

ClearScore

ClearScore, a credit checking platform founded in 2015 by Justin Basini, is one of the rare fintechs that has shown commitment to London as a site, with one option “yes considered”.

“If we go down this route, we see London as our natural home given the position of our family brand, strong profitability and user scale in this market,” the company told the Financial Times. The company was last valued at $700mn in fiscal 2021 and is backed by venture capital firm QED Investors.

ClearScore welcomed regulatory changes to boost investment in the UK and said it “(believes) that the future of profitable fintechs listed publicly in London is an exciting prospect”. A potential listing could come in 2026, however.

Financial services

Categories

British retailer TP ICAP is considering listing its data unit, Parameta, which sells market data to institutional investors and could be worth as much as £1.5bn. It comes after TP ICAP faced pressure from investors to spin off the fastest growing unit.

However, the group’s chief executive last year said he was considering different options for Parameta, including going public in New York instead of London. “It may include the US list”, he said, adding “there is no certainty about the public proposal or its location”.

Shawbrook

UK private equity lenders to small businesses Shawbrook are considering listing the London-based company, which aims to be valued at £2bn. BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital bought the bank in 2017 and are trying to list it in the first half of 2025. The company in 2022 shelved sales plans after high prices and high energy costs hit borrowers.

Industries

Steel Strength and Steel

In mid-December, Greece-based Metlen Energy & Metals filed for a primary listing on the LSE. Currently trading on the Athens stock market, Metlen’s chairman said the conglomerate “has had a presence in the UK and international markets for many years” and a London listing “will be beneficial to Metlen and its shareholders”.

AirBaltic

Latvian flag carrier AirBaltic has said London will be a tough competitor if it goes ahead with a much-delayed IPO this year.

The airline plans to list on the local market in Riga, but the chief executive met with the LSE manager last month to discuss the possibility of a dual listing in London. However, Martin Gauss, CEO of AirBaltic, said that other European bourses including Amsterdam and Frankfurt are also options, if the airline continues to fly.

Customer

Shein

Fast-paced internet group Shein could follow a blockbuster listing in London this year, which could value the company at around £50bn. The company, based in China and headquartered in Singapore, filed confidential papers last year for a planned IPO and is still waiting. control nodes in the UK and China.

In October, it founder of exclusive billionaires Sky Xu has met with investors in the UK and US in anticipation of the float. If Shein gets the green light for the IPO, it could be in the first half of this year, one person with knowledge of the meetings said at the time. It was originally focused on New York but moved to London after being rejected by US authorities. The company may be considering a dual listing in Hong Kong.

Unilever ice cream

Unilever plans to list its €15bn ice cream division but has yet to confirm where the IPO will take place.

“We are talking to governments, to authorities, but also to stock exchanges, banks, etc.,” chief executive Hein Schumacher told the FT, adding that the door is always open to my customers. be present. The company will confirm its plans in the first half of this year.

The listing could rekindle the old rivalry between London and Amsterdam over Unilever. The maker of Magnum and Marmite previously had listings in both cities but dropped its two-company structure in 2020, moving to a single listing in London.

Additional reporting by Laura Onita, Madeleine Speed ​​and Philip Georgiadis in London