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(Alliance News) - Three initial public offerings in London were announced on Monday, one on the London Main Market and two on junior AIM exchange, a vote of confidence amid growing concerns about a second UK lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, e-commerce platform THG Holdings PLC, known as The Hut Group, began trading on the Main Market with a 1.88 billion market capitalisation. The stock was quoted at 579.40 pence Monday afternoon, up 16% from its initial public offering price of 500p.
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp, which is already listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, on Monday set out plans to list its shares in London without raising any new money. It intends to retain its Toronto and New York listings.
The company, which hopes to list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, said the new listing will help to "enhance the company's access to the pools of equity capital available in the UK and key financial centres in the EMEA region".
This proposed listing will support Wheaton's plans for growth and brings the first senior precious metal streaming company to the LSE, the Vancouver, Canada-based company noted.
Wheaton is a royalty and streaming company, generating revenue primarily from the sale of precious metals. The company enters into precious metal purchase agreements to purchase all, or a portion, of the precious metals production from mines located around the world for an upfront payment.
Shares in Wheaton closed at CAD67.53 each in Toronto on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of CAD30.28 billion, about GBP17.80 billion. In New York, the stock ended Friday at USD51.19.
London's junior AIM stock market also saw two initial public offerings announced on Monday.
Various Eateries PLC, which operates Coppa Club and Tavolino branded restaurants in the UK, confirmed its plan for an IPO on AIM with a placing of 34.2 million ordinary shares at 73 pence per share to raise GBP25 million.
The funds raised from the IPO will be used by Various Eateries to roll out its Coppa Club and Tavolino brands, for potential buyouts and for general working capital purposes.
Based on the placing price, Various Eateries is expected to have a market capitalisation GBP65 million. The company will have 89 million ordinary shares in issue and a free float of 21.6% on stock market admission this coming Friday.
The Various Eateries IPO comes at a challenging time for the restaurant industry, with chains and independent restaurants struggling to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on movement.
Separately, Calnex Solutions PLC, a provider of test and measurement solutions for the telecommunications sector, also announced plans to list on AIM.
The company is placing 46.9 million new and existing ordinary shares at 48.0p per share, raising GBP22.5 million in total. Of that, GBP6.0 million is for the company, while selling shareholders are receiving GBP16.5 million from the IPO.
The company will use its portion of the IPO proceeds for research and development activities, repaying debts, and evaluating potential buyouts.
Calnex is expected to have a market capitalisation of GBP42 million upon stock market admission on October 5. It will have 87.5 million ordinary shares in issue and a free float of 43%.
The Linlithgow, Scotland-based company designs, produces and markets test instrumentation and solutions for network synchronization and network emulation, enabling its customers to validate the performance of the critical infrastructure associated with the telecoms networks.
The London Main Market has seen three confirmed listings so far in 2020, and 12 companies, including fellow Canadian miner Yamana Gold, have announced IPO plans.
On the AIM market, eight companies have listed, or announced listing plans, since the start of the 2020, including Various Eateries and Calnex.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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