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UK broker TP ICAP is planning to list its data business in New York, dealing another blow to London’s ailing equity market as investors seek higher valuations in the US.
“Our focus is a listing in the United States,” said chief executive Nicolas Breteau on Tuesday, adding that the flotation of a minority stake in its data unit Parameta Solutions could happen as early as the second quarter of this year.
The plan marks the latest setback for London’s stock market, which is struggling to attract new flotations and has suffered an exodus of companies, including groups shifting their primary listings to venues such as New York in search of higher valuations.
TP ICAP said it had chosen New York because “the US has the deepest, most liquid public markets”, was home to many of Parameta’s listed peers and a larger number of research analysts too. It added that about 93 per cent of the business’s revenues were dollar-denominated.
TP ICAP is a stalwart of the City of London, formed by British billionaire and City grandee Michael Spencer who founded ICAP and sold the broking business to rival Tullett Prebon in 2015. Spencer has been a longtime donor to the Conservative party and previously worked as the party’s treasurer.
British fintech Monzo and trading app eToro, whose largest market is the UK, are among the companies recently considering a US listing, enticed by the potential for higher values and a warmer reception from investors.
Companies are also delisting from London at pace. Last year, the London Stock Exchange suffered its biggest exodus since the financial crisis, with a series of takeovers by private equity bidders depleting the exchange.
Parameta makes money by selling data to traders. FTSE 250 member TP ICAP said it would retain a majority stake in the long term.
Parameta’s growth outpaces that of TP ICAP’s global broking unit, in which roughly 2,500 brokers connect buyers and sellers in finance, energy and commodities markets, earning money from commissions on trades.
Revenues at Parameta rose 8 per cent last year, according to results published on Tuesday, while the company’s global broking revenues increased 4 per cent.
The City broker began planning to list a stake in Parameta last year after facing pressure to return capital to shareholders in recent years, the Financial Times previously reported.
Breteau cautioned there was “no certainty” that a listing will take place.
