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London competes for investor cash

Global markets are trying to attract IPOs and capital raisings following a volatile 2016
April 27, 2017

A lot has been said about the difficulties that companies attempting to list their shares publicly faced in 2016. Volatility and uncertainty are not the friends of an initial public offering (IPO) and the global political and economic turbulence of last year stunted share listings. In 2016, the worldwide number of IPOs fell to 1,167, from 1,307 the prior year.

However, 2017 has started to show signs of recovery. To date, 472 companies have listed their shares on stock markets around the world, raising $47.4bn in the process. This is compared with 260 and $18.7bn in the same period last year. Yet London does not seem to be sharing in that recovery.

While US and Chinese IPOs have risen sharply during the first three months of 2017, London listings are still thin on the ground. The main market has welcomed just 15 new companies, raising a total of £450m, compared with 13 and £1.1bn in the first quarter last year and 21 and £1.8bn in the same period in 2015. Of the global IPO volumes, the UK has claimed just 6 per cent.

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