Dentons' Nik Colbridge: What IPO candidates really care about when choosing a listing venue

London under pressure

For IPO candidates at the very beginning of the listing process, the key question is where is best for it to list?

For most businesses, this means which index will deliver the highest valuation and, importantly for those awaiting expiry of a lock-up to fully exit, the most liquidity. While some listing venues, notably in London, have recently embarked on listing rule reforms to make their indices more attractive to potential issuers, the complexity of executing the IPO is generally a secondary consideration. Simplification of the listing process is welcome, particularly if it helps level the playing field between different venues – for example London, versus competitors for issuers in the Euronext...