Declining UK IPOs and rising M&A have created a 'perfect storm'

'Unusual to see the two come together'

UK IPOs have declined significantly year on year while at the same time, more businesses are being taken private, partly caused by lacklustre UK valuations.

The number of companies listing on the London Stock Exchange has dramatically decreased compared to last year, down 45% in the first half of 2022. The slump was even more pronounced on AIM, where IPOs fell to the lowest levels since 2009. Robert Newman, a capital markets lawyer at DLA Piper, which specialises in companies looking to float on an exchange, told Investment Week: "At one point we had six IPOs on the go. Now we have one, which may come through, and the others have been punted into the long grass. "Whether they come back yet we do not know." IMF warns world may soon be '...