Since the shock vote to split with the European Union in June 2016, initial public offerings have been losing steam in the UK. They made up 30 percent of total listing proceeds in Europe, down from 40 percent in the six preceding years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
To little avail, so far. British startups are flocking to the deeper pockets and higher valuations to be found in New York, while listings in the UK are at their slowest in more than a decade. Optimism after a last-minute Brexit deal at the end of 2020 was short-lived, as it left many regulatory issues unresolved.
A string of high-profile flops over the past two years has also done serious damage to investor confidence in London IPOs, with the likes of Deliveroo Plc, Wise Plc and THG Plc all down more than 60 percent since going public. An intensifying cost-of-living crisis, soaring inflation and the looming prospect of a recession in the UK are piling more pressure on London’s already bleak listings landscape.