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Over the Hill: can a listings shake-up boost London’s prospects?

The UK Listings Review is proposing an overhaul of the current rules to attract more IPOs and Spac listings
March 10, 2021and James Norrington
  • Lord Hill’s recommendations would see London embrace the current craze for Spacs
  • Not everyone is convinced that these changes would be for the better

UK equity markets have been shrinking in recent years as more companies choose to remain private or be taken private by buyout firms. The number of UK-listed companies has fallen by around two-fifths since 2008.

According to a report from broker Peel Hunt and the Quoted Companies Alliance, only a fifth of fund managers believe that the number of companies listed in the UK will rise in the future, with cheap capital from private equity and “burdensome listing requirements” being cited as some of the main barriers.  

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