Zopa, the digital financial institution and former P2P lender, could not record in London when it lastly raises money from buyers through an IPO.
Zopa’s chief government Jaidev Janardana instructed Metropolis AM that he wouldn’t decide to a London IPO, as a substitute pointing to “alluring and deeper swimming pools of capital in different, unspecified shores.”
Zopa’s wariness about itemizing in London is a part of a wider development the place UK companies are avoiding the London market. For instance, UK tech participant ARM plans to record within the US the place firm valuations are typically larger than within the UK.
An IPO for Zopa has been on the agenda for a number of years however Zopa has delayed earlier plans as a result of pandemic and difficult financial circumstances. “We’ll simply have to attend for when the markets are in the precise place,” stated Janardana at a convention final 12 months. “You solely need to do an IPO as soon as, so we need to make certain we choose the precise second.”
Learn extra: Zopa backer says financial institution must strike steadiness between revenue and progress
One other former P2P lender, FundingCircle, listed in London in 2018 whereas various property lender, LendInvest, listed in 2021. FundingCircle’s share value has fallen by greater than 85 per cent since its IPO, whereas shares in LendInvest have greater than halved since itemizing.
While ready for an IPO, Zopa has been capable of increase money from non-public fairness buyers. The digital financial institution raised £75m earlier this 12 months which it used to buy DivideBuy, a buy-now-pay-later supplier.
Learn extra: Zopa Financial institution, two years on
Since launching in 2020, Zopa financial institution has attracted £3bn in deposits, greater than £2bn of loans on steadiness sheet, and issued near 400,000 bank cards.