Class of 2025? The IPO hopefuls that could revive London

This year is a difficult year for the London market. Nearly four years after Lord Hill’s review of the UK’s listing rules that kicked off the reform effort, the stock market remains in a bearish state.

New London-listed companies raised a record low of just £737m in 2024, according to Dealogic, underscoring the challenges of reviving the market. Fewer than 20 companies listed in the UK capital last year, the fewest since the 2009 financial crisis. additions to its stock market.

As more companies choose to add listings or move to the US in search of greater liquidity and higher valuations, UK policymakers are scrambling to revive London with regulatory reforms and measures to encourage pension funds to invest in UK stocks.

Amid lackluster markets and political uncertainty, much-anticipated listings by fintech companies were delayed last year, with some, including eBay-backed payments firm Zilch, moving to initial public offerings but not until 2026. Others, such as the commercial app eToro: and the buy-now-pay-later group Klarnaplan to go public in the US.

Those spearheading efforts to revive the UK market, led by Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, have kept the IPO market buoyant this year, but already, advisers say, hopes are fading that 2025 will be a boom year.

The Financial Times has compiled a list of companies that could list in London this year.

Fintech

Ebury

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

Ebury was founded in 2009 by Spanish engineers Juan Lobato and Salvador Garcia. It offers services including cross-border payments, payroll transfers, currency risk management and business lending.

The flotation will closely watch the rest of the UK fintech sector following the disastrous results of rival CAB Payments, which saw its shares fall more than 70 per cent just three months after its 2023 listing.

the soup

A digital lender backed by SoftBank the soup The list is expected to be searched later achieving profitability last year. The company was founded in 2005 as a peer-to-peer lender, but has since focused on banking and offers savings accounts, car financing and personal loans.It was last valued at more than $1 billion in a December 2024 fundraising.

CEO Jaidev Janardana has previously expressed a preference for London as a listing location, but a person close to the company cautioned that executives have not set a timetable for an IPO. Zopa may be ready to float soon, they said, but will wait for the market the right conditions.

ClearScore:

ClearScore, the credit-checking platform founded in 2015 by Justin Bassini, is one of the rare fintechs to have committed to London as a listing venue, with one flotation under “consideration”.

“If we do go this route, we see London as our natural home given our household brand status, high profitability and user scale in this market,” the company told the Financial Times.The company was last valued at $700 million in the 2021 funding round and is backed by venture capital firm QED Investors.

ClearScore welcomed regulatory reforms to boost investment in the UK and said that “[believes] that a prosperous future for publicly listed fintechs in London is an exciting prospect.” However, a potential listing could come in 2026.

Financial services

Parameters:

British interdealer broker TP ICAP is looking at its data unit, Parameta, which sells market data to institutional investors, at a potential valuation of up to £1.5 billion, after TP ICAP went under to pressure from investors spin off fast growing unit.

However, the group’s chief executive said last year that he was considering various options for Parameta, including going public in New York instead of London. It “could imply a listing in the US,” he said, adding that “of course , there is no clarity on either the public offering or its location.”

Shawbrook

Private equity owners of a UK small business lender Shawbrook are considering listing the company in London, aiming for a £2bn valuation. BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital bought the bank in 2017 and are considering listing it in the first half of 2022. shelf plans to sell after record high inflation and rising energy costs hit the lender’s customers.

Industrial

Metlen Energy & Metals

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

AirBaltic

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

The airline plans to list on its home market in Riga, but its chief executive met with the head of the LSE last month to discuss the possibility of a dual listing in London. and Frankfurt are also options if the airline continues the flotation.

Consumer

Shane:

Online fast-fashion group Shein could be in pursuit of a blockbuster London listing this year, which could value the company at around £50 billion.The company, founded in China and headquartered in Singapore, filed confidential documents for a proposed IPO last year for and is still waiting. regulatory nodes UK and China.

In October, his a reclusive billionaire founder Sky Xu has met with investors in the U.K. and the U.S. in anticipation of a flotation. If Shane gets the green light for an IPO, it would likely be in the first half of this year, a person with knowledge of the meetings said at the time. : It initially targeted New York but moved to London after being rejected by US regulators.The company may also target a dual listing in Hong Kong.

Unilever ice cream

Unilever plans to list its €15 billion ice cream division but has not confirmed where the IPO will take place.

“We are talking to governments, authorities, but also stock exchanges, banks, etc.,” CEO Hein Schumacher told the FT, adding that the door remains open to potential buyers. The company will confirm its plans in the first half of this year.

The listing could revive the old rivalry between London and Amsterdam over Unilever.The Magnum and Marmite maker previously had listings in both cities but scrapped its dual corporate structure in 2020, moving to a single listing in London.

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