TheTrainline.com IPO: Chief executive Clare Gilmartin is ready to test the markets January 8, 2015 Stock market flotations are very much at the glamorous end of business in the City. Relatively young firms are suddenly exposed to public markets, and gain huge recognition – not to mention financial rewards – for their hard work building the business. It is certainly an adventure for bosses and owners. Visits to investment banks [...]
TheTrainline.com IPO: Train ticket website steams ahead with £500m London flotation January 8, 2015 Train ticket website TheTrainline.com has confirmed plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO). In a statement to the stock market this morning, the private equity-backed site said it hopes to raise £75m, which would value it at around £500m. The company hired investment bank Morgan Stanley in July last year, in the wake of [...]
Virgin Active IPO: London misses out as gym chain plans South Africa float January 7, 2015 Gym chain Virgin Active is looking for investment bankers to run the likely £1.5bn flotation of its shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over the coming months. A South African sale would be a loss to London, as the brand has a strong presence in the UK. The group traditionally had more sites in the [...]
Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank chief exec quits before flotation January 6, 2015 CLYDESDALE Bank chief executive David Thorburn is standing down after four years at the National Australia Bank (NAB) subsidiary, the bank said yesterday. NAB is selling the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, after poor performance in the UK. Last year, the group had to set aside £420m to pay for payment protection insurance (PPI) claims. But recruiting [...]
Investors feasted on £13.6bn in London-listed IPOs last year January 6, 2015 Hungry investors feasted on billions of pounds in initial public offerings (IPOs) on the London Stock Exchange last year. In 2014 around 104 plucky issuers raised a total of £13.6bn on London's main and AIM markets. This represented a 10 per cent increase from the previous year's activity according to data from Thomson Reuters. Throughout the [...]
Rocky year ahead for flotations as market uncertainty reigns January 5, 2015 THE GENERAL Election in the UK and turmoil abroad could shake the equity capital markets in 2015, JP Morgan’s regional boss told CityAM Vis Raghavan expects some flotations to take off strongly in any case, but predicts more marginal firms to either hold off floats or cut the price of their stock when volatility strikes. “You [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange chief exec Charles Li writes to Santa to lament loss of Alibaba IPO December 22, 2014 Writing a letter to Santa: At primary school it’s expected, for early teens it’s understandable, for sixth formers it’s a little strange. But for the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest stock exchanges it’s downright bizarre and just a bit bonkers. Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong stock exchange [...]
Lord Myners report rescues Vince Cable over Royal Mail IPO December 18, 2014 The government received unexpected praise over Royal Mail’s float. But the City is being told to make some changes. One quick glance at the share price told the City’s critics’ everything they wanted to hear. The Royal Mail privatisation was another classic case of over-paid charlatans ripping the taxpayer off to the tune of [...]
Lending Club flotation: It’s good news and bad news December 12, 2014 Lending Club is a US-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lender. It acts as a conduit for the passage of money from individuals and institutions to businesses. Some call that crowdfunding – though increasingly that term is being reserved for platforms that raise money for equity, or property investment, or special purposes such as charity. Whatever you [...]
Dream debut as Lending Club valuation soars after IPO in boost to British crowdfunding December 11, 2014 Lending Club’s valuation soared to more than $8bn yesterday as shares rocketed as much as 60 per cent on their first day of trading. The world’s biggest peer-to-peer lender floated in New York, and could kick-start a new tech boom – with British crowdfunding firms getting a big boost from the intense investor interest. [...]