Brexit boost as Dutch lead London stock market charge
by James Burton A DUTCH finance firm yesterday outlined plans for one of the biggest flotations on the London stock market this year in a major vote of confidence in Brexit Britain.
As the City geared up for a string of listings that could spark a fees bonanza for bankers and other advisers, TMF said that once the deal is complete it will leave its headquarters in Amsterdam for a new base in the capital.
The company, which employs 7,000 staff in more than 80 countries and offers accounting, tax and payroll services for clients such as Netflix and Linked In, looks set to be valued at around £1.4bn when it goes public next month.
Bosses at TMF said the Brexit vote ‘has not been a barrier to the company choosing London’ – adding the UK’s exit from the EU ‘could actually present an opportunity’.
In a further sign of the City’s enduring appeal, Russian energy company En+ outlined plans to raise £1.1bn in London and Moscow – making it Russia’s first listing in the capital since 2014. British Virgin Islands investment company J2 Acquisition also said it had raised £950m through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
LSE bosses are hoping to lure in the biggest deal of all, Saudi state oil firm Aramco, which is valued at about £1.6trillion.
It comes amid growing optimism for Britain’s stock exchange, which suffered a fall in initial public offerings immediately after the Brexit vote but has rapidly bounced back. More businesses floated on London than any rival in Europe, the Middle East, India or Africa in the third quarter of 2017, according to accountant EY. Its figures also revealed that foreign firms accounted for 12pc of these listings and 56pc of the £2.9bn raised.
The biggest hitter so far this year has been Allied Irish Banks, worth £ 10.6bn, which raised £2.7bn in one of the City’s largest stock market listings for two decades. Shares in the firm – which was bailed out by Ireland’s government at the height of the financial crisis – began trading in London and Dublin in June.
PwC director Hilary Eastman said: ‘Investors are still reasonably confident about the future for UK companies, which may explain why London is still seeing healthy initial public offering activity.’ And speaking at the Tory conference earlier this week, LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet said it would be ‘conservative’ to expect a financial technology firm valued at between £100bn and £300bn to come out of London in ten years.
TMF’s listing in particular will be seen as a huge feather in the City’s cap after the business said Brexit presented a major moneymaking opportunity.
It added: ‘Brexit has not been a barrier to choosing London – in fact, the UK’s exit from the EU could actually present an opportunity to TMF Group, given that business complexity and companies moving across borders are key drivers of its growth.’