Tech giant plots £16bn London listing in boost for struggling City
A £16bn Norwegian technology giant has announced plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in a rare boost for the struggling market.
Private equity-backed Visma, which is headquartered in Oslo and provides accounting and payroll software to small businesses, is understood to be considering a UK public offering early next year.
According to the Financial Times, Visma has provisionally picked London for a float early next year, after previously considering Amsterdam and Oslo, and is planning to sound out bankers.
A deal is dependent on potential reforms to the London Stock Exchange and listing rules.
If confirmed, the listing would be welcomed by bankers, stock exchange executives and politicians, all of whom have been struggling to reverse a long-term decline in London's public markets.
The City has faced an exodus of public companies as the likes of Paddy Power owner Flutter and drugs giant Indivior have shifted their listings to New York.
Earlier this month, Wise, the overseas payments business, said it would move its primary listing to the US. Investors at construction giant Ashtead approved plans to swap to the New York listing earlier this month.
Others have gone private through takeovers, with high-tech device maker Spectris in talks to quit the market.
Last year, 88 companies abandoned main market listings in London. Meanwhile, there were just 18 floats on the London Stock Exchange or the junior Aim market last year.
The Telegraph reported last week that Waves, a £300m Israeli tech business, had delayed plans to list in London amid geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East.
Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein is said to have switched a planned float from London to Hong Kong.
London buyout firm Hg Capital has owned Visma since 2006, when it bought the Norwegian company for just £380m. It now employs more than 16,000 people and has annual revenues of €2.8bn (£2.4bn) and adjusted earnings of €893m (£761m).
Hg has owned Visma for far longer than is typical for a private equity fund, reinvesting in the business several times and bringing on new shareholders.
After previously exploring a float two years ago, Visma instead took on new shareholders and secured €3bn (£2.5bn) of investment in a private share sale, valuing the business at €19bn (£16.2bn).
Hg still owns the majority of the businesses, with other shareholders including US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and trading firm Jane Street.
Hg and Visma declined to comment.
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