MAGGIE PAGANO: Two IPOs in two days gives the City a much needed boost

They say happiness comes in threes. And so it seems. Following the news that Turkish soda ash producer WE Soda is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), comes the decision of tech unicorn, CAB Payments, to enter the capital’s main market.

The third incentive is that US tech giant Palantir has chosen the UK as its European headquarters for AI developments.

Rishi Sunak will have been delighted to hear Palantir’s CEO, Alexander Karp, rave about how Britain’s ‘pragmatism over technology’ was one of the main reasons for choosing London – as well as being a magnet for so much talent.

We’re not used to such praise, but it will have ended well, especially as the Prime Minister pushes London as the site of a new global AI regulator – one modeled on the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The decision of Sutton-based CAB Payments – also known as Crown Agents Bank – to move to London is significant.

It’s a cutting-edge company, handling around $30bn (£23.9bn) in payments last year, providing cross-border B2B payments and money exchange services between 150 countries.

Unusually for so many fintech companies, it is also profitable and likely valued at over £1 billion. But much of the recent criticism of London has been that the public markets were less suited to tech companies than the New York stock exchanges.

Presumably this was due to lower valuations given by investors to technology companies in the UK than in the US.

In fact, it was cited as one of the main reasons SoftBank chose to float semiconductor giant Arm in New York rather than London.

London’s lack of liquidity compared to New York is often cited as another barrier. CAB chief executive Bhairav ​​Trivedi does not seem to share those fears. On the contrary.

The Wharton and Stanford-trained engineer, who has worked in the financial industry for more than three decades, says that while CAB looked at other markets, it decided the LSE was the best option on several fronts, including being close to home and great pools of liquidity.

And here’s one for the detractors: Trivedi added that he is extremely optimistic about the UK economy and has confidence in Britain as the home for innovative and growing global companies.

But are the WE Soda and CAB floats just part of a lucky streak?

Or a sign of a major mood swing?

One IPO may be purely coincidental, but two day after each other coming together in this way rather suggests that we are finally seeing the right signs of renewed confidence in London’s capital markets.

Admittedly, it’s had a bad run: IPOs fell to their lowest level in a decade last year, with just 41 companies listing in the main market.

Yet a mood swing seems to be taking place, spurred by the massive efforts of regulators and politicians to accelerate reforms, such as Jeremy Hunt’s recent Edinburgh to improve access to the markets.

The decision to allow companies to sell fewer shares for a free float also appears to be having an effect. WE Soda and CAB have indicated that they will sell between 10 and 15 percent of their shares, enough to show their commitment.

And both have indicated that more may become available.

City Secretary Andrew Griffith is right when he says the “armchair generals” should stop sniping. They should celebrate instead. It’s better for the soul.

More houses

The housing market is struggling. Prices are falling, not enough is being built and mortgage payments are about to rise.

Now Crest Nicholson’s boss wants the government to step in to support the market – as it did for start-ups with Help to Buy – because of this weakness.

This is reverse thinking, a policy that distorts the market rather than improves supply.

Instead, Crest’s Peter Truscott and fellow homebuilders should be urging ministers to abandon the ludicrous indulgence of ‘NIMBYs’ and force councils to build more. Even then, the private sector does not have the capacity to build enough homes in the neighborhood for our children and grandchildren.

There is only one way to reach critical mass: to restore a form of state rule last seen in the 1970s, when more homes were built each year than today.