A London-listed company worth close to £1bn is preparing to list in the US amid mounting debate over the city's declining attractiveness for public companies.
WANdisco, the 'big data' company, has hired bankers from Evercore Partners to prepare for the listing in New York.
City sources said the timing of the dual listing remains uncertain but is likely this year or next.
The move is significant given growing concerns about the ability of the London market to compete with the much larger pools of capital available to companies in the US.
This week, chip designer Arm Holdings wrapped up a months-long review by confirming it would only list its shares in New York, a move seen as a slight for Britain due to its UK headquarters and longstanding membership. . on the FTSE indicator. -100 index.
Ministers, including Rishi Sunak during his tenure as chancellor, lobbied hard to persuade SoftBank, the Japanese owner of Arm, to seek a dual listing in London.
“After engaging with the UK government and the Financial Conduct Authority for several months, SoftBank and Arm have decided that seeking Arm’s exclusive US listing in 2023 is the best way forward for the company and its stakeholders.” said Arm CEO, Renee Haas. . He said on Thursday.
Concern about London's attractiveness boiled over when CRH, the FTSE-100 building materials giant, said it had made plans to move its listing to the US, where most of its business takes place.
Flutter Entertainment, the betting group behind Paddy Power and Betfair, is proposing to set up a secondary listing in New York, but is expected to follow suit by dropping its main listing in London.
Ferguson, a provider of plumbing and heating products, moved its core menu to the US last year.