Edinburgh fintech Nucleus confirms £150m IPO plans

● Wrap platform specialist eyeing ‘new opportunities’ via listing later this month

platform provider Nucleus Financial has unveiled plans to float on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) in a move that could reportedly raise £25 million and value it at up to £150m.

The Edinburgh-based financial technology (fintech) firm said it planned to list its shares towards the end of this month, opening up “new opportunities” in doing so.

Chief executive David Ferguson, who founded the firm in 2006, noted that its strategy has seen its assets under administration grow to more than £14.3 billion. It serves more than 2,200 adviser users across in excess of 800 financial adviser firms.

He said: “Nucleus has been an exciting journey so far and we expect this admission to Aim to mark an important milestone in the business’s maturity and to open up new opportunities for us.

“We remain committed to keeping adviser/client alignment and transparency at the heart of what we do and to continue developing a market-leading platform and bestin-class customer service to deliver on our objectives.”

Angus Samuels, chairman of the fintech firm, added: “This is an exciting moment for the business … We are looking forward to life as a listed company and the opportunities that lie ahead of us.”

Shore Capital is acting as nominated adviser, sole bookrunner and broker to the company, with Craven Street Capital as financial adviser.

Nucleus achieved pre-tax profit of £5.1m in 2017, has more than 200 staff and has seencustomersexceed90,000.

It sees the UK financial planning and wealth management market growing “due to demographic, lifestyle and regulatory factors”, mainly attributed to factors such as increased ISA allowances and greater pension flexibility. The firm added that financial advisers “have increasingly come to rely on the efficiencies and capabilities offered by platwrap forms to deliver their proposition”.

Wraps originated in Australia, and Nucleus said assets under administration in the advised platform market have grown to about £350bn from £123bn at the end of 2012, and are projected to grow to £745bn by the end of 2021.

Ferguson was earlier this year appointed chairman of Fintech Scotland, after being named a fintech envoy by the Treasury with his remit focused on north of the Border. He recently said he wants Nucleus to be one of Scotland’s fintech success stories.

News of the firm’s plans for an initial public offering (IPO) come a day after accountant EY said a flurry of technology listings in the London market led a resurgence of large flotations in the second quarter.

Mike Timmins, EY’S IPO leader in Scotland, expects a real jump in activity in the second half, also stating that the UK can be a leading destination outside the US for tech IPOS, “which is encouraging news for the growing presence in these industries in Scotland, particularly in Edinburgh and Dundee”.