Alphawave shares dive in washout float debut

ALPHAWAVE IP received a rough welcome to the stock market as its shares tanked by more than 20pc.

The Canadian chip designer priced its stock at 410p ahead of its float, implying a value of £3.1bn.

But just moments after conditional trading began, the shares plunged by as much as 24pc to 310.9p. The stock eventually closed down 10pc at 370p.

The disastrous debut comes just weeks after Deliveroo’s shares plunged by 26pc on its first day, casting doubt on London’s hopes to attract more tech listings.

Analysts said Alphawave’s experience would add to unease, despite the recent successful float of cyber-security firm Darktrace.

It dealt a blow to backers Blackrock and Janus Henderson and will be seen as an embarrassment for bankers at JP Morgan, Barclays and BMO, who worked on the deal. JP Morgan worked on Deliveroo’s debut as well.

Alphawave, which is jointly based in Toronto and London, claims it chose the City over rivals such as New York because UK investors understand its business model of licensing chip designs – similar to that of Cambridge-based Arm.

Executive chairman John Holt said his company was proud to be listing in London, which was ‘the obvious venue’.

But Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘The cynics will be queuing up to say it is no shock that a company with the stock ticker of AWE is coming a cropper, given its lofty price tag.

‘Another poor start for a highprofile flotation, and one that comes so soon after Deliveroo, will inevitably be used as a stick with which to beat the London market, amid accusations that the UK investment community doesn’t “get” technology or like entrepreneurs – when nothing could be further from the truth.’