London Stock Exchange needs more ‘hustle’ to attract IPOs, says Octopus chief
The boss of Octopus Energy Group has said the London Stock Exchange needs to show more “hustle” to attract new listing candidates like the group’s tech arm, Kraken.
Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus, said whilst he would “love” for Kraken to list in the City, but added the London Stock Exchange (LSE) needs to be “banging the drum for London”.
The energy giant’s boss called for the government to ramp up efforts to encourage British pension funds to invest in UK equities.
“I would need to see more hustle from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) – they need to be bringing in more capital,” Jackson told the Press Association.
It comes after Kraken was confirmed to be demerging from the wider Octopus Group, teeing it up for a potential public listing.
On Tuesday, the group announced Kraken had closed a $1bn funding round, which valued it at $8.65bn (£6.4bn). An IPO from Kraken would mark the largest solo IPO in London since Haleon’s £30.5bn listing after its demerger from GSK in 2021.
But Jackson said the decision was currently a “coin toss” between London and New York.
“We need to see ongoing efforts to improve London for companies and for investors,” he told PA.
Jackson weighs in as London market edges towards recovery
Jackson’s comments are just the latest in a chorus of comments from business chiefs who’ve warned the London Stock Exchange needs to up its game to win over firms looking to IPO.
Rachel Reeves has ramped up efforts to galvanise listings over the last year, hosting several private summits with companies, where she has attempted to woo them with her deregulation agenda.
This year, the London IPO market enjoyed a tepid recovery with $1.6bn raised via initial public offering in the fourth quarter alone, giving hope of a listing revival into the new year.
Reeves also kicked off a stamp duty holiday in her November Budget in a bid to attract new firms to the City.
CityAM revealed in July that Octopus was part of a group of around two dozen major businesses that attended a private conference hosted by LSE boss Julia Hoggett for firms interested in participating in Pisces – a new, regulated market for private companies to trade existing shares.
Octopus swung to a £260m loss on Tuesday after lower energy demand due to warmer weather took a chunk out of the firm’s bottom line.
It marked a major drop from profit of £77.6m just the year prior.