London IPO fundraising hits a three-decade low in another blow to the UK capital

Fundraising from London IPOs slumped to at least a three-decade low in the first half of this year, new data showed on Friday – raising fresh questions about the fading allure of the U.K. as a hub for global capital.

The five debuts on the London market in the first six months of 2025 raised a total of £160 million ($218.6 million), according to new data from Dealogic.

That’s the lowest level of London IPO funds raised in the first half of the year recorded by Dealogic since it began collecting data in 1995.

Even in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, two London IPOs managed to raise £222 million in the first half of 2009, the data shows.

London’s biggest IPO so far this year was the listing of professional services company MHA, which raised £98 million at its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in April.

The listings slump in London this year adds to the city’s struggles to hold onto its former glory as one of the top destinations for global capital.

According to the most recent IPO Watch report from professional services giant PwC, IPO proceeds in the U.K. fell to £100 million in the first quarter of 2025, down from £300 million in the same period a year earlier.

This year alone, the city’s financial markets have been passed over by firms that had once planned blockbuster listings there. Shein, for example, is reported to be planning an IPO in Hong Kong after abandoning earlier plans to float its shares in London, while Glencore-backed metals investor Cobalt Holdings confirmed to CNBC last month that it had scrapped plans for a London IPO.

The troubles aren’t limited to new listings – in June, British fintech giant Wise announced it was moving its primary listing from London to New York, and earlier this week it was reported that pharma giant AstraZeneca – the most valuable company on London’s FTSE 100 index – is considering moving its listing to the United States.

Kristo Kaarmann, Wise’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement at the time that the move would help raise awareness of the company in the U.S., while giving the firm better access to “the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market.”

Dealogic’s data highlighted a significant gap between U.S. and U.K. listings so far this year. U.S. markets saw 156 IPOs in the first six months of the year, which collectively raised $28.3 billion, the figures showed.

However, Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket, told CNBC that while U.K. equity markets have “been under a cloud of negative press for some time,” there could be brighter times ahead for London.

“We are seeing more businesses beginning to look seriously at London listings again after several years of reform and broader uncertainty over the regulatory and policy direction of the US,” he said in an email.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has touted his government’s plans to revitalize Britain’s capital markets, pledging to look into regulation that is “needlessly holding back investment.” Last summer, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority overhauled listing rules in a bid to simplify the process of floating shares on the U.K. market.

“If London can convert early-stage interest in UK listings into successful IPOs, it will go some way to reversing some of the doom narrative,” Mergermarket’s Kerr told CNBC.

Janet Mui, head of market analysis at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, pointed out that exits via IPOs were slowing globally.

“It’s easy to be bearish when we have news like this,” she said in an email on Friday. “The reality is more nuanced, including macro uncertainty and tighter financial conditions have slowed listing globally.”

Last week, the Financial Times reported that Norwegian software giant Visma had chosen London for its upcoming debut on the public market. Mui argued that this news showed there was still appetite for high growth companies to list in London.

“That said, more work is needed to deliver reforms to streamline listing and make London more attractive to businesses,” she conceded.