FTSE 100 Live: Budget and bubbles continue to set agenda Markets Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. We are now just over a week out from the Labour government’s second Budget and last week rogue Westminster briefings sent ripples through markets. After continuous weeks and media outings teasing a manifesto-breaking income tax hike, the government rowed back with several reports pointing to [...]
Shawbrook’s private equity owner eyes another £3bn IPO Markets The private equity owner of specialist lender Shawbrook is eyeing another blockbuster listing for one of its portfolio companies, fresh reports have suggested. Pollen Street Capital is understood to be laying the groundwork for an IPO for its UK insurer Markerstudy with conversations underway with investment bankers over a listing that could value the firm [...]
FTSE 100 closes in on 10,000 after outperforming US indices Markets The FTSE 100 is inching a step closer to the magic 10,000 mark after almost a year of outperforming counterparts across the Atlantic. London’s blue-chip index rallied on the open before giving up some gains to settle on a broadly flat level. It follows two consecutive record closes with the City shrugging off bubbling tensions [...]
Princes shares jump as boss of tinned tuna giant eyes M&A spree November 11, 2025 The boss of Princes Group has laid the foundations for future deals after the firm’s admission to the London Stock Exchange helped build up its “firepower”. Simon Harrison, chief executive of Princes, said the listing marked a “milestone period” for the group and created “exciting opportunities to pursue value accretive mergers and acquisitions, in line [...]
Zilch eyes ‘hot’ fintech IPO market amid product launch October 9, 2025 The boss of consumer payments platform Zilch has pledged to bring something “never seen before” to public markets as the fintech IPO scene heats up. Philip Belamant told City AM Klarna’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange – where the stock popped 15 per cent – was a “brilliant” indicator for fintech prospects. “I [...]
‘It’s risky to be in the UK’ – Cleo founder on unicorn status and City regulation October 7, 2025 Nine years ago entrepreneur Matt Clifford took a data scientist to a “terrible pub” to convince him to drop his PhD and create his own start-up. “You may as well just take the risk, the biggest risk is not taking the risk,” Clifford told a young Barney Hussey-Yeo. Almost a decade later in 2025, Hussey-Yeo [...]
Shawbrook gearing up for £2bn IPO in boost to London market October 2, 2025 Specialist lender Shawbrook is preparing to announce intention of its London Stock Exchange debut – a move which could take place as soon as Thursday next week. Shawbrook’s private equity owner – Pollen Street Capital – is eying a £2bn valuation for the firm from the transaction. It comes amid a dire outlook for the [...]
City asked to contribute £120m Rachel Reeves’ stock market push September 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ major advertising push to re-invigorate the London market is expected to cost the City £120m, new documents have revealed. The campaign, which is being led by the Investment Association, was announced as part of Reeves’ Mansion House package where the Chancellor made her pro-business plea to the City. But smaller financial services firms [...]
Foreign takeovers risk turning UK into an ‘incubator economy’ September 15, 2025 The UK is facing a time crunch to avoid becoming an “incubator economy” as foreign takeovers continue to sweep the London market. A collection of top venture capital investors and founders have called for crucial reforms to the markets ecosystem with a focus on pensions and the IPO environment. The reforms, as outlined in a [...]
Klarna’s IPO success could lure fintechs away from London September 10, 2025 By Oscar McDonald Swedish buy-now-pay-later giant Klarna has teed up its second attempt at an IPO, with the eyes of the fintech world set on its New York debut. The company’s valuation has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past three years, peaking at £33.6bn in July 2021 before plummeting to £4.95bn a year [...]