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The London IPO market could still see a revival before the end of the year, according to City broker Peel Hunt, as a number of blue chip firms wait patiently for geopolitical tensions to die down before firing the starting gun on their own floats.
Brian Hanratty, head of equity capital markets at Peel Hunt, told City AM: “If you’d asked me a couple of months ago, actually the answer is still pretty similar now. This is the most constructive we’ve been on the UK IPO market in some time.
“And actually the pipeline is the best we have seen in a number of years. I think the pipeline was always going to be very H2 weighted. But those companies that were looking at Q2 are definitely taking a pause for now given recent market events and volatility.”
London saw a surge in IPOs at the back end of 2025, ending a two year-long drought, with the likes of British bank Shawbrook and tinned tuna giant Princes among the new entrants to the public markets.
But the recovery faltered following the outbreak of war in Iran, with concerns over the economic fallout putting IPO plans on ice for a number of potential candidates.
“Ultimately we would like to see markets stabilise,” Hanratty said.
“The market’s hoping for a short term resolution for the conflict. And the big question this all raises is is there a higher risk of a stagflation rate backdrop that impacts how companies see their forecasts. That impacts consumer demand.
“So I think we’d like to see a bit more certainty around the outcomes to get more confidence on the near term outlook for IPOs.”
Watch the full interview with Brian Hanratty here:
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