Metlen confirms £5.5bn London listing date
Greek industrial giant Metlen Energy and Metals has confirmed it will list on the London Stock Exchange next week, in a much-needed boost to the UK’s listing-starved public markets.
The mining and energy firm confirmed on Tuesday it had completed its voluntary Share Exchange Offer (SEO) with an acceptance rate of over 90 per cent, paving the way for what will be the UK’s highest value listing for nearly a year.
The group, which thanks to its shares rising over 50 per cent in 2025 now boasts a market capitalisation of €6.4bn, will shift its primary listing from Athens to London on 4 August in a move it said underlined “the compelling offer and enduring attraction of UK capital markets.”
It will retain a secondary listing on the Athens Stock Exchange and will not raise any new capital as part of its shift to London, it said in an announcement. In doing so, Metlen will become the most valuable firm to list on London markets since CK Infrastructure chose the UK capital for its secondary listing in August last year, and could form part of the FTSE 100 as soon as September.
Evangelos Mytilineos, Metlen’s chairman and chief executive, hailed the listing as a reflection of “the scale and international footprint that Metlen has built over the past three decades”.
“This is more than a listing change – it’s a strategic step to the corporate transformation of our group,” he said. “Metlen will remain the only listed entity with listings on both the London and Athens stock exchanges, maintaining our strong presence in both markets.”
Metlen listing vital for beleaguered stock exchange
The arrival of the Greek industrials giant provides a vital piece of positive news for the London Stock Exchange, as its dire run of delistings and a paucity of IPOs has continued to plague the bourse.
On Monday, Wise shareholders paved the way for the fintech to shift its primary listing to New York after they voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move despite an aggressive rearguard action from one of its founders.
In a major blow to UK capital markets, the payments juggernaut cited “better access to the world’s most liquid capital market” and the marketing opportunities offered by a New York listing as driving the decision when it announced the plans last month.
Equipment rental firm Ashtead, Just East and Flutter have all moved to the US or delisted from London in the past year.
Several UK-based IPO contenders with the potential to galvanise the listings environment in London have also hinted they will choose to list on other major stock markets over London. Revolut has hinted it will float in New York over London while Monument Bank has already confirmed plans for a public listing on New York’s Nasdaq in 2027.
Metlen has two main divisions. The first produces electricity from gas-fired power plants and renewables, and the second is a metals arm, which mines aluminium, alumina and bauxite from its main mine in Greece, one of the largest in Europe.
It has had a presence in the UK for over a decade, with contracts worth more than £2bn, including Britain’s the first subsea interconnection on the east coast.