PrimaryBid helps retail investors participate in company fundraisings. Can it democratise investing?
4 July 2021 • 5:00am
When Severn Trent tapped shareholders for £250m to fund green projects in May, the placing went ahead with little fanfare.
But one component that set the capital raising apart from others was its decision to include a retail offering.
Severn Trent’s rationale was straightforward: it wanted to give individual investors the same opportunity to participate as larger institutional backers.
At the time, chief executive Liv Garfield said: “Treating all investors fairly is fundamental to our corporate governance commitment and we were delighted to include a retail component to our fundraising to give everyone the same opportunity to participate.”
Crowdcube set to rival PrimaryBid as it prepares IPO platform for retail investors
Stockbroker and Crowdcube shareholder Numis will use the new platform, according to a report in the FT.
Crowdcube is reportedly working on an online IPO platform aimed at retail investors, making it a new rival to the London Stock Exchange’s part-owned PrimaryBid.
The crowdfunding firm has so far help private businesses land investment and, according to a report in the Financial Times, it has hired a capital markets team.
Crowdcube plans to enable retail investors to participate in London IPOs.
Stockbroker Numis, a shareholder in Crowdcube, is expected to use the new platform for future appropriate IPO, the FT noted.
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Adam Welham, head of European equity capital markets at Fidelity Management & Research, said the increase in listings by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies is potentially dangerous.
Welham spoke on a panel, Global IPO Innovations – Why Now?, at UK FinTech Week on 19 April. He said the explosion of listings by SPACs in the US is the most extraordinary development in ECM in the last 20 years.
“You’ve got this alternative route to an initial public offering which is potentially quite a dangerous development for a number of reasons,” he added.
️ There are lots of reasons why it’s [direct listing] being pursued more. It’s a combination of price and transparency, and companies are trying to take a bit more ownership of the process.”
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LONDON (Reuters) - British retail investment platform PrimaryBid plans to expand to France and the United States later this year after facilitating Deliveroo’s “community” share offer last week, its chief executive and co-founder told Reuters.
The tech company, which counts the London Stock Exchange Group and Fidelity among its backers, is looking to expand internationally after being involved in a number of share sales in Britain.
“We have a strategic agreement with Euronext across several countries, and we will be launching in France, where we are fully regulated currently, possibly as soon as June or July,” CEO Anand Sambasivan said.