Shawbrook lays out plans for November IPO

(Sharecast News) - Shawbrook Group confirmed plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in early November on Monday, aiming to raise £50m from new shares in what was expected to be the largest London initial public offering of the year. The specialist lender, which provides finance to small and medium-sized businesses, said the offer would include both new shares and a sale of stock by existing shareholder Marlin Bidco, a vehicle jointly owned by private equity firms BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital.

An additional 15% of the offer could be made available through an over-allotment option.

Shawbrook said the listing would enable it to meet the free-float requirements for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.

The IPO would mark a return to public markets for Shawbrook, which was taken private in 2017 in an £825m deal.

Its owners had previously considered a flotation in 2022 and again earlier this year, but both attempts were postponed amid volatile markets.

The upcoming listing, expected to value the company at around £2bn, added to a recent revival in London's IPO market following a period of subdued activity.

Chief executive Marcelino Castrillo said earlier this month that a float "would mark an important milestone in our journey," adding that Shawbrook had "achieved real scale" and sees "a significant opportunity to bring [its] offering to new types of customers".

The lender reported a growing loan book of £18.3bn at the end of September, up from £17bn at the end of June, driven by £1.5bn in new originations and the acquisition of the ThinCats group.

Customer deposits rose to £17.6bn over the same period.

Shawbrook said it aimed to nearly double its loan book to around £30bn by 2030.

The listing would follow a string of recent flotations in Europe, including those of Beauty Tech Group, Verisure, Ottobock and Princes Group.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.