Business lender Shawbrook plots £2bn London IPO
Shawbrook is lining up a London IPO in the second half of the year in a much-needed boost to the capital’s public markets.
The business lender is pressing ahead with plans that target a valuation of as much as £2bn, according to the Financial Times.
The firm’s private equity owners had been seeking an exit but market volatility had deterred earlier plans for a London listing.
The lender is controlled by private equity firms BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital. All three declined to comment.
The reports will raise hopes of a revival of London’s lackluster stock market. A number of billion-pound London banking and fintech businesses from Zilch to Zopa are considering an IPO but have been waiting for the right market conditions to materialise.
Shawbrook has explored several mergers in the past
Earlier this year Shawbrook was weighing a £5bn merger with fintech giant Starling, after market volatility made a public listing less attractive.
The mid-cap lender contacted Starling to initiate talks on a potential deal, Sky News reported.
The potential tie-up was one of several Shawbrook has explored in recent years.
The lender explored a potential merger with Metro Bank in 2023, when the latter faced a critical point of financial distress.
The same year, the bank plotted a £3.5bn merger with Co-operative Bank, which instead completed its sale to Coventry Building Society at the beginning of 2025.
Shawbrook’s profit before tax fell to £294m in the 2024 financial year. This was down from £302m in 2023.
But, the firm did manage to boost its deposit and loan book, driven by commercial and retail markets.
The bank’s loan book grew 16 per cent to £15.2bn in 2024, compared to the £13.3bn recorded in 2023.
Shawbrook’s chief executive Marcelino Castrilo said: “In 2024, we continued to invest in technology, talent and our proven specialist proposition.
“This commitment to our strategy, combined with our ability to execute quickly and at scale, gave us the platform to continue to grow our business throughout the year and to take that momentum into 2025.”