Trustpilot, a Danish online review website, saw its stock price soar 16%. The initial offer price was £2.65 ($3.65). The current valuation is at £1.1 billion. The total money raised got valued at £473 million. The existing investors sold a total of 161 million shares. Additionally, the company self-issued 17.6 million shares.
In other news, no days before the Trustpilot news, Deliveroo set a price range for its expected float. The British food delivery unicorn already had £8.8 billion. The Amazon-backed company’s first day of trading will commence on 7th April as per its IPO brochure.
According to Reuters reports, this would be the biggest IPO in Britain since Glencore went public about a decade ago. Another company, Moonpig, an online car retailer, went public for £1.2 billion.
These events will boost London’s financial markets. It comes amidst fears that the city would lose footing in the tech world amidst Brexit laws. In London, Treasury has allowed firms to list dual-class shares on the premium stock market.
According to Sten Saar, the CEO of Zego, a digital insurance provider, London is the new tech hub instead of Amsterdam. London aims to become the destination for SPACs (particular purpose acquisition companies). These are shell companies listed publicly to acquire private businesses. Their main target is high-growth tech companies.
2020 was a record year for SPACs in the U.S. U.K. had. missed out on golden opportunities. A critical reform mentioned in the U.K. listings was allowing SPACs structured similarly to U.S. ones. Once the takeover deal gets announced, the trading gets suspended. David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, told CNBC that U.S. markets had seen signs of “froth”. It could end badly for the SPAC investors.