Crowdcube launches IPO platform for retail investors
Crowdcube has today announced the launch of a new IPO platform as minister plan to reduce the dominance of institutional investors in listings.
The UK crowdfunding company allows retail investors to xxx . It will offer a service for public as well as private share sales from this summer, the Financial Times reported.
“These community IPOs are a natural extension of what we are doing in the later stage private market and follow the review by Lord Jonathan Hill and the recommendations to encourage greater retail participation in IPOs,” chief commercial officer Matt Cooper said on Linkedin.
The Hill review, which has been supported by the government, set out a swathe of recommendations to further encourage greater retail participation in floats.
Some companies already offer access to some IPOs for retail investors, including PrimaryBid which oversaw retail offers for both the Deliveroo and PensionBee listings.
Crowdcube co-founder and chief executive Darren Westlake said fundraising for private businesses had already increased sharply. “We are doing big raises for later-stage companies so this feels like a small step,” he told the FT.
Broker Numis, which owns a small stake in the crowdfunding business, said it would use the platform for appropriate IPOs in the future.
Co-chief executive said the company “has the right tools and domain knowledge to mae retail access to IPOs simple and hugely rewarding for both investors and the listing companies themselves.”
“Retail investors are understandably seeking greater access to IPOs. There is strong desire from customers to have a role in their favourite brands’ public futures,” he added.
In March Crowdcube was forced to shelve merger plans with Seedrs after the competition regulator provisionally blocked the deal.
Crowdcube agreed to buy the company last October before the Competition and Markets Authorit (CMA) said the tie-up would result in a substantial lessening of competition.