Voyager Air grounds plans for London Stock Exchange listing
An aircraft leasing firm has stalled its planned initial public offering (IPO), becoming the second major company in a fortnight to put off its float in London.
Voyager Air has halted its ambition to raise $200m ($160m) through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, blaming “currently unfavourable” market conditions for the move.
Read more: ABInBev scraps plans for largest IPO of 2019
The firm said it plans to restart the initial public offering at a later date.
It comes just a week after Swiss Re put off its plans for a £3bn listing of its British life insurance arm Reassure in the wake of weak investor demand.
The reinsurance giant blamed “heightened caution and weak underlying demand” from institutional investors for the postponement of its initial public offering (IPO).
Trading in the shares, which were set to be valued at a price range of between 280p and 330p, was expected to begin last week.
Read more: Swiss Re suspends plans for £3bn float for UK insurer
“The failure of the ReAssure IPO to get off the blocks in the UK, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s decision to pull the flotation of its Asian business in Hong Kong and the muted response given to Chinese video streaming play DouYu in New York all speak of greater investor caution, despite the latest record highs on the US exchanges,” said Russ Mould, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
He added: “This may not be a bad thing. A rush of IPOs, especially if they are of variable quality and are sold at lofty valuations, can often be a sign of a market top as investors lose their discipline, so it is encouraging to see money managers take a selective approach, especially when it comes to price.”
According to a recent report from accountancy firm EY, following a subdued start to the year the London markets witnessed a boost in momentum, with 15 companies making their stock exchange debut between April and June.
The main welcomed 10 IPOs in the second quarter, which raised £3.8bn, with five companies listing on AIM raising £194m. Combined proceeds on both markets (Main and AIM) were up by 39 per cent, compared to the same period last year (Q2 2018), but the total number of listings completed fell by 37 per cent.