London investors failing to ‘step up’ in fight for IPOs, says WE Soda chief
The boss of WE Soda has taken aim at the “commitment” of London and European investors today after the soda ash maker ditched its listing plans last week due to the meagre valuation mooted by the market.
The Turkish firm revealed plans to list in London to much fanfare two weeks ago but dramatically scrapped the plans last week citing “extreme investor caution” in the City.
WE Soda had been targeting a valuation of around $7.5bn but analysts were reportedly angling for as much as a 20 per cent discount on the asking price.
The firm’s boss Alasdair Warren has now slammed the caution of investors in Europe and suggested the firm could find a more game reception on the other side of the Atlantic or Asia.
“It’s not just London, but Europe,” Warren told the Sunday Times.
“You get local support for domestic floats in the Middle East and they get done,”In the US, you can always find a clearing level [to get a good deal] but here in London and Europe the institutions do not have the commitment to step up and take ownership.”
Warren told the paper that if the firm was to reconsider a float it could be in New York in the next few years. The comments follow his warnings last week that investors in the US “tend to have higher levels of conviction to back themselves as opposed to following others”.
The comments will fuel more anxiousness in the City as London tries to revive its listings market following a sharp drop off this year. The amount of cash raised via IPOs plummeted 80 per cent in the first quarter, according to figures from EY.
Efforts from top City figures are underway to try and boost the taste for taste for longer term growth investment. The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce headed by London Stock Exchange chief Julia Hoggett is looking to boost the reset the narrative around the City.