CAB Payments confirms plans to list on the London Stock Exchange
CAB Payments confirms it WILL list on the London Stock Exchange following City disappointment after WE Soda scrapped UK share listing
- The initial public offering for CAB Payments took take place as early as July
- Earlier today WE Soda dealt London a blow by axing LSE listing plans
Business-to-business cross-border payments group CAB Payments Holdings has confirmed plans to launch on the London Stock Exchange this year.
A trend of businesses spurning London in preference of New York has accelerated this year, with global banking woes pushing the sum raised from UK listings down by 80 per cent in the first quarter, according to Ernst & Young figures.
WE Soda yesterday dealt another blow to the market after scrapping plans to list in London over disagreements over valuation.
Boost: CAB Payments Holdings has confirmed plans to launch on the London Stock Exchange this year
A final offer price is yet to be set for the CAB Payments listing but the initial public offering on London’s main market could take place as early as next month.
The offer will be comprised of a secondary sell-down of existing ordinary shares held by Merlin Midco Ltd and ‘certain’ other shareholders. The IPO will be targeted at institutional investors outside of the US.
The group said there had been ‘significant interest’ in a possible LSE float since it hinted at the move earlier this month.
Analysts previously estimated that the company could achieve a valuation of between £800million to £1billion.
Ann Cairns, chair of CAB Payments, said: ‘Bringing CAB Payments to the public market underscores our confidence in the business and its value generation potential, as well as our confidence in the UK as the home for innovative and growing global businesses, and cements CAB Payments as a preferred payments and forex partner for blue-chip companies transacting in emerging markets.
‘We have been pleased with the investor engagement so far and look forward to further discussing our value proposition with investors, based on our strong track record of profitable and cash generative growth that was built on the foundation of a well-invested technology platform, a compliance-first culture and robust governance frameworks, and a business model that delivers real economic development benefits to emerging markets.’
Barclays Bank and JP Morgan Chase and Co have been engaged as coordinators and sponsors for the IPO.
Claire Trachet, chief executive of business advisory Trachet, said: ‘Both global and UK businesses are still looking to list on the LSE, however, until economic conditions strengthen, and investor trust and appetite is restored, the city will continue to experience a largely inactive IPO market.
‘I think we will eventually see an increase in UK listings, but this won’t happen until inflation numbers stabilise and looming recession fears fade, lifting the curtain on what remains an uncertain economic outlook.
‘In the meantime, we’ve quickly moved into an environment where companies are seeking funding from private equity vehicles or strengthening their position through M&As.’
According to research by Proactive Investors, since the start of April, there have been over a dozen initial public offers, including four in the first few days of June.
In the secondary market, the research logged 20 fundraisers by existing listed companies in the last month for a total of just under £40million, the biggest of which was just over £6million, the smallest £250,000.