Princes Group prices London IPO at bottom end of range
Shares in Princes Group made their debut on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, rounding off a rare, busy month of listings for the British bourse after a prolonged drought.
The Liverpool-based business, which makes Branston beans, Batchelors peas and Napolina olive oil, had set its offer price at 475p, the bottom end of the marketed range, giving the firm a market value of £1.2bn.
The valuation is significantly lower than the £1.5bn the company had been expected to fetch upon its float.
However, it would still place the business comfortably in the middle of the FTSE 250 when it becomes eligible for admission to the index.
Princes raised £420m in its initial public offering (IPO) and will have a free float of around 13 per cent, after its biggest shareholder, NewPrinces SPA, subscribed for around £200m worth of shares and parent Newlat Group subscribed for £55m. £2.9m shares were also issued via a retail offer, raising £14m.
“As majority shareholder, NewPrinces has invested in the IPO alongside new investors, demonstrating our shared commitment and confidence in the company’s future success,” said Angelo Mastrolia, executive chair of Princes Group.
“We have a clear path to delivering on our strategic objectives and are ready to execute our next phase of growth. We have identified a strong pipeline of potential acquisitions, which we can pursue in a short timeframe and which will create additional synergies.”
IPO floodgates open
The Princes IPO is the latest in a series of flotations on the London Stock Exchange in October, marking a revival in listings in the moribund market that had seen the exchange slip to as low as 23rd in the global rankings.
Yesterday, specialist lender Shawbrook kicked off its London float, targeting a valuation just shy of £2bn with a listing price of 370p. The stock popped following the bank’s debut, peaking at around 400p.
Earlier this month, data centre energy business Fermi completed a dual listing in New York and London, in what was the largest London float by offering size this year and the biggest by market capitalisation since September 2020.
Toby Neugebauer, chief executive of Texas-based Fermi, said it “makes all the sense in the world” to float in both markets simultaneously because of the closeness of Britain and America.
“I think it makes sense – so far it’s making sense for us,” Neugebauer told City PM.
“If it keeps going like we’re doing I think it could be the standard.”
Just £184m was raised on the London Stock Exchange in the first nine months of the year, a far cry from the roughly £17bn raised as recently as 2021 and making 2025 the worst year for listings in more than three decades. The amounts raised represent a tiny fraction of the roughly £40bn that has been raised in the US over the same period.
The ranking placed London, once Europe’s premier listing destination, behind Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Poland and Germany and only marginally ahead of Greece and the Netherlands, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg. But the results also reveal a widespread listings drought across the continent, with Sweden the only country that had been able to raise more than £1bn.
Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle said: “The London Stock Exchange is a renowned global trading hub and the Princes Group is a great British success story. The firm’s decision to list is not only a huge vote of confidence in this government’s reforms to capital markets but in British business.
“With the FTSE 100 continuing to trade close to all-time highs, we’re making sure the UK is the best place in the world for businesses to start, scale, list and stay.
“I want this to just be the start – with more firms following in their footsteps and choosing London as the financial home for their thriving futures.”
Tinned tuna float
Food and drink group Princes was acquired by Italian giant Newlat last year in a deal worth £700m.
Mitsubishi Corporation had previously owned the British group since 1989.
Princes was founded in Liverpool in 1880 as Simpson & Roberts and its licensed and owned brands include Branston, Batchelors’, Flora, Olivio, Crisp ‘n’ Dry and Jucee.
The company is headquartered in the iconic Royal Liver Building, a Liverpool landmark.