UK investors seem to have got over the blow of Deliveroo (ROO) and other flop IPOs (initial public offerings) with London’s new listings matching Europe’s bulging pipeline.

Despite ongoing inflation and interest rate hike threats, supply chain blockages and a stubborn Covid virus that refuses to go away, investors continue to be willing to back high-quality businesses that have a distinctive story and a reasonable price tag.

According to data from Bloomberg, nearly 20 companies have kicked off the stock market listing process already this month, including Swedish automaker Volvo Cars and several electric vehicle charging firms, of which Pod Point is one.

EDF-owned Pod Point owns, operates and sells car charging points, with a network of around 79,000 of its own UK-connected charging points. EDF plans to keep at least a 50% stake post-listing and support growth plans which include investing to expand its network.

Investment trust Pantheon Infrastructure is looking to raise £300 million as part of its London IPO. It is targeting between 8% and 10% per year net asset value total return and a 4% dividend yield once it has fully invested the money raised at IPO. Target investments include data centres, renewable energy infrastructure, ports and airports.

In the smaller company space, Tungsten West is seeking to join AIM and restart the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine located near Plymouth, previously owned by AIM-quoted Wolf Minerals before it went into administration due to financial difficulties.

Other names potentially coming to the London market include buy now, pay later financing firm Klarna, online make-up seller Beauty Bay and Zoom and Microsoft Teams video conferencing                 rival Starleaf.

Market speculation points to possible London listings for beer maker Brewdog, Jaguar Land Rover and online challenger banks Monzo and Starling, while Tik Tok-owner Bytedance and payments firm Stripe are rumoured to be set for international IPOs this year or next.

But with major global stock markets having traded sideways for six months and experiencing heightened volatility, nothing is certain. Several IPOs have been pulled such as mental health and nursing homes operator Icade Sante, language learning app Babbel, Virgin Atlantic Airways and pitched roof systems manufacturer Marley.

Patchy 2021 post-IPO performance is also undermining investor confidence in some cases. While the likes of Darktrace (DARK), Auction Technology (ATG) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) have lit up the UK stock market this year, Made.com (MADE), Victoria Plumbing (VIC:AIM) and Alphawave IP (AWE) have disappointed.

According to Bloomberg data, more than 40% of the largest deals in Europe this year are now trading below their IPO prices, as investors turn cautious on highly valued companies.

‹ Previous2021-10-14Next ›