2018’s UK IPOs so far

As mentioned above, January was the strongest start to a year on record for US IPOs as listings raised nearly $8bn. A total of 17 IPOs in the first month of the year was the highest number since 1996, before the dotcom boom around the turn of the century. While the UK may not have seen the rush of activity as across the Atlantic, however has already seen an array of multi-million pound IPOs take place in the first three months of the year.

IntegraFin, a financial services company and creator of the Transact wrap platform, was the first major London Stock Exchange float of the year and initially valued at £650m with shares worth 196p each. Debuting on 27 February, the company saw its shares trade at 250p, 28% higher than the IPO price, and has since seen the share price as high as 285p on 14 March. Although currently 6% from its highs, IntergraFin is now worth around £880m.

The largest listing of the year, however, belongs to Cablevision Holdings, a £1.95bn Argentinian technology hardware and equipment company. Also taking place in February, the shares have seen limited trading so far.

Also on the 2018 IPO list are JTC, a £330m institutional and private wealth management company which debuted in mid-March, and TruFin, a £210m AIM-listed alternative lender.

And major global IPOs still to come

 In the US, Dropbox is another tech unicorn testing the public markets in early 2018. The file hosting service founded in 2007 was once the most highly-valued tech company in the world whilst also being the first of the ‘deca-corns’ – private tech companies worth more than $10bn.

Although the company is now valued at the lower price tag of $8bn, this hasn’t hampered demand. Its IPO has been oversubscribed, leading to the offer price being increased ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq on 23 March.

Other tech unicorns such as AirBnB, the $30bn real estate rental company which turned its first profit in 2017, which also appointed its first independent board member last year, and Uber, the world’s largest car-hailing with a newly appointed CEO, fresh boardroom members and a wave of external investments valuing it at close to $50bn, may also choose to follow in the footsteps of Spotify should its unconventional listing be successful.

In the UK, luxury car maker Aston Martin has announced its intention to list publicly after announcing an £87m

full year pre-tax profit in 2017, its first annual profit since 2010 and after a £163m loss in 2016. Having always been cited as a pre-requisite for going public, the £5bn company’s first annual profit in seven years and record sales in the final quarter paves the way for it to explore an IPO in the second half of 2018.

Finally, while it was touted that the largest IPO ever to take place was happening this year, it seems as though the Saudi Aramco IPO will be put on hold until 2019. The eagerly anticipated flotation of 5% of the Saudi state-owned oil company would easily be the largest IPO in history, raising an estimated $75bn.

Keep reading for an in-depth history and description of Spotify since its 2008 inception, as well as an analysis of both the music streaming industry and potential rivals to Spotify’s market-leading position.