London IPOs hit 28-Year low amid AstraZeneca exit concerns

Malaysian Reserve

02-07-2025

LONDON marked the slowest first half-year for IPO volume since 1997, a grim milestone punctuated by a report that AstraZeneca Plc's chief executive officer wants to move the company's listing to the US.
With companies going where liquidity is abundant, a steady drip of firms being taken private, and too few initial public offerings coming along to replace them, pressure is mounting to reverse the slow but inexorable shrinking of London's historic trading venue. More than $100 billion worth of London-listed companies have announced or executed plans to move to New York in recent years, Bloomberg calculations show.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot wants to move the drugmaker's stock listing to the US, the Times reported Monday, citing his frustration with the UK's regulatory regime for drugs and concern that the country's life sciences industry is falling behind the US and China. An exit from the exchange by the most valuable British company would send shockwaves across the financial sector, and risk inviting more firms to join the confidence-eroding flow of listings leaving the City.
That would make the job of attracting new IPOs even harder. Companies listing in London raised less than £200 million ($274 million) in the last six months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and turnover for stocks like AstraZeneca is far greater for its US depositary receipts than in London.
A move by AstraZeneca would accelerate the fearsome trend of companies voluntarily moving their listings to the US. Wise Plc is the latest of the bunch, revealing last month it would relocate its primary listing to New York in search of better liquidity and new investors, following in the footsteps of Flutter Entertainment Plc, CRH Plc and Indivior Plc.
When asked about the prospect of AstraZeneca moving its listing, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman, Tom Wells, said he wouldn't comment on 'commercial decisions of firm.' A representative for the London Stock Exchange declined to comment.
Just as concerning is a trend toward UK-listed companies receiving takeover offers this year, potentially removing them from the exchange. Spectris Plc, Deliveroo Plc, and Assura Plc are among the 48 pending or completed deals since January 1 targeting London-traded firms, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
'The scale of M&A and lack of IPOs is resulting in a material reduction in the number of UK-listed growth companies,' Charles Hall, head of research at Peel Hunt said in a research note. 'We are seeing continued outflows of UK capital, which need to be addressed through pension, ISA, and stamp duty reform.'
Dealmakers say the second half of the year may see a few more IPOs come to market, potentially paving the way for a stronger rebound from 2026.
'We are expecting a tentative recovery in the fourth quarter with a number of transactions not quite getting done before the summer break,' said Tom Bacon, a partner in BCLP's M&A and corporate finance team. 'This will not be the strong re-opening everyone is hoping for, but could start to build some momentum.'
Professional services firm MHA Plc was the biggest offering so far in 2025, raising £98 million on London's junior bourse AIM. Meanwhile, Glencore Plc-backed Cobalt Holdings Plc called off what could have been London's largest IPO in two years, and fast-fashion retailer Shein has shifted its IPO preparations to Hong Kong from London, people familiar with the matter have said.
Some companies that have been reported to be considering a London IPO this year are Italy's NewPrinces SpA, Banco Santander SA-backed payments firm Ebury and Uzbek gold miner Navoi Mining & Metallurgical Co.
The biggest boost would come next year from the planned IPO of €19 billion ($22.4 billion) software giant Visma. Private equity group Hg Capital tentatively picked the British capital for the listing, attracted by London's listing reforms, particularly an incoming rule allowing euro-denominated stocks into flagship FTSE indexes, Bloomberg has reported.
'It doesn't feel like there's a queue of IPOs lined up in London, but there are some candidates there,' Andreas Bernstorff, head of equity capital markets at BNP Paribas SA said.
London is arguably hardest-hit among European exchanges, but it isn't alone. Europe suffered its worst first half for IPO volumes in more than a decade, with bourses in Milan, Paris and Zurich seeing lower volumes than London, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Part of the issue this year has been the bout of volatility unleashed by US President Donald Trump's tariffs, which shut the market for weeks and prompted some issuers to delay their plans for going public.
Listings in London where capital was not being raised provided a ray of hope. Last month, Anglo American's Valterra Platinum Ltd. completed a secondary listing in London, following in the footsteps of International Paper Co., which added a London listing as part of its takeover of rival DS Smith Plc. Greece's Metlen Energy & Metals SA said last week it expects to start trading in London in early August, although it won't raise any funds.
To be sure, the UK was the busiest venue in Europe for overall share sales volume so far this year given the boon in follow-on issuances, including £5 billion worth of shares sold by Pfizer Inc. in Sensodyne-maker Haleon Plc. Rosebank Industries Plc, which listed last year on the AIM exchange, was able to raise £1.14 billion from investors to fund an acquisition in the US.
'For companies that have a compelling equity story and a strong management team, the London market functions very effectively,' said Jonathan Parry, a capital markets partner at White & Case. –BLOOMBERG