The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has seen its second marquee initial public offering (IPO) in as many days, this time with Equiniti looking to raise approximately $484.4 million (£315 million) from its London IPO.
Yesterday, the LSE saw the rollout of the largest UK IPO since 2013 when Worldpay, a British payment processor, moved ahead with its plans to raise a staggering $3.8 billion (£2.5 billion). Worldpay’s valuation was at an aggregated price of $9.6 billion (£6.3 billion), which included $2.3 billion (£1.5 billion) of net debt. The figure also represented a lower sum takeover bid by Ingenico, which saw its offer of over $10 billion (£6.6 billion) rejected earlier this year. The two new IPOs are emblematic of a growing consensus that the market is heating up in the UK after what has been by and large a lackluster Q3 for listings.
Equiniti has carved out a niche as the handler of the majority of dividend Payments made by FTSE 100 companies. Equiniti traces its roots back to the initial creation of the British Army’s paymaster general in 1836.
The payments specialist has set an initial range of 165p-200p for its IPO, which gives the group a market capitalization of up to $922.7 million (£600 million) after listing. Equiniti has also announced that the IPO proceeds will likely be used to help mitigate any debts and inherent costs of the flotation.
In addition, IPO Advent International, a private equity group that controls Equiniti, will also be taking a $115.3 million (£75.0 million) stake in the listed company, thus remaining its largest shareholder.
