By City AM reporter
At least eight firms have plotted moves off the London Stock Exchange in 2024 – which was supposed to be a ‘rebound’ year for the exchange. It hasn’t worked out that way so far
Relentless. That was the warning of one of the City’s top investment banks this year over the pace of de-listings from the embattled London Stock Exchange.
So far it, it appears the comments were frighteningly on the money. A number of take private deals look to be pushing ahead and several boards have fired the starting gun on delisting or swapping their primary hub to another market.
The warning followed an already bleak year for the market in which 32 firms came under offer or were picked off by private buyers, according to analysis by Peel Hunt.
More than 100 companies left the market over the course of last year, according to the Quoted Companies Alliance. London’s public market populous has now shrunk by around 40 per cent since its peak in 2008.
Despite upbeat predictions of an “encouraging” pipeline from the London Stock Exchange’s owner and a number of IPOs this year, the gloom still abounds. These firms are the troubling omens for the London Stock Exchange this year:
Currys
The electrical retailer is in play this year and has rejected two takeover bids from activist investor Elliott. The owner of Waterstones lodged an offer of between 65p and 70p-a-share worth around £750m, up slightly from an initial 62p-a-share bid worth £700m,Sky News reported.
Currys has rejected the offers on the grounds that they undervalue the company.
Wincanton
Wincanton looks set for a £762m takeover by Clipper logistics owner GXO after bosses withdrew their backing for a rival bid and waved through a new offer to shareholders today.
In a statement Friday morning, Wincanton chiefs said they had withdrawn their support for a bid from CEVA Logistics launched in January to back the 605p per share effort from GXO.
The GXO Offer Price represents a premium of approximately 104 per cent on its closing price prior to the bid.
Direct Line
Shares in Direct Line surged over 23 per cent on Wednesday after the company confirmed that it had rejected a bid from Belgian insurer Ageas last month.
In a statement to the market, Direct Line said the offer was “uncertain, unattractive, and that it significantly undervalued” the firm and its future trading prospects.
The “highly opportunistic” bid, which valued the firm at around £3bn, was unanimously rejected by members of the board. Direct Line shares were trading at 202p each on Wednesday afternoon.
Tui
Tui shareholders voted to ditch the London Stock Exchange in favour of Germany earlier this month after a “liquidity migration” to Frankfurt.
Shareholders voted 98.35 per cent in favour of the decision at the travel giant’s annual general meeting, having required 75 per cent backing for the plans to go through.
Flutter
Dublin-based betting firm Flutter revealed it will propose shifting its primary listing from London to New York at its annual general meeting in May.
Subject to shareholders’ approval, the listing transition is expected to come late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter of this year, with the London listing then staying on as a secondary.
Indivior
Indivior, the opioid dependence treatment maker said last week it will start consultations with shareholders on plans to shift its primary listing to the US in yet another blow to the London Stock Exchange.
The firm brought in a secondary listing on the Nasdaq in 2023 and said it would look to maintain a secondary listing in the UK. However, the decision to shift its primary listing marks a big change for the company, which was spun out of consumer health and hygiene giant Reckitt Benckiser back in 2014.
Dispensa
Dispensa, the holding company that focuses on luxury food brands, is set to delist from the London Stock Exchange after tumbling to just £2.3m in market cap.
Thedelisting was approved by the firm’s board of directors “following extensive deliberation” over how to best maximise shareholder value for the company.
Kaspi.KZ
Kazakh fintech and banking firm Kaspi.kz plans to cancel its London Stock Exchange listing on March 25 having listed on NASDAQ last month in a $17.5bn IPO.
Mikheil Lomtadze, Kaspi chief executive, told the FT last year “the US is the market which will give us access to a wider pool of investors and another level of recognition”.
