Shawbrook Prepares London Return as Buyout Owners Ready £2 Billion Float
British specialist lender Shawbrook is preparing to return to the London market, with its private equity backers aiming to launch an initial public offering within days, according to people familiar with the matter. The listing could come as soon as Thursday, the Financial Times reported.
The bank, which focuses on loans to small businesses, property investors and consumers who fall outside the remit of mainstream lenders, last tapped public markets in 2015. That debut priced shares at 290p and valued the group at about £725 million. Just two years later, Shawbrook was taken private in an £868 million deal by BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital, who used a bid vehicle called Marlin Bidco to seize control.
Eight years on, the owners believe conditions are right to try again. Shawbrook’s loan book stood at £15.2 billion at the end of 2024, up 16% year-on-year, while underlying pre-tax profit reached £294 million. Returns on tangible equity improved to 19% in the second half of the year, underscoring its appeal as a specialist platform at a time when larger UK banks remain tied to mass-market mortgages and consumer credit.
BC Partners, founded in 1986, is one of Europe’s longest-running , with past investments spanning telecoms, healthcare and industrial companies. Its co-owner in Shawbrook, Pollen Street Capital, is a London-based financial-services investor led by Lindsey McMurray. Pollen Street has carved out a niche purchaseing and backing lenders, servicers and fintech . Between them, the firms have grown Shawbrook into a more diversified franchise, adding non-prime mortgage lender Bluestone Mortgages in 2023 and even exploring deals for Metro Bank and Co-operative Bank.
The float will test the waters for , which has been near historic lows. London raised a fraction of the capital viewn in New York this year, and high-profile exits such as ARM Holdings’ US listing have fuelled anxiety about the city’s status. Treasury officials are weighing new measures to lure companies back, including a possible two-year holiday from the 0.5% stamp duty charged on new listings.
Even if the tax break arrives too late to affect Shawbrook, a successful deal would assist shore up sentiment. The bank’s valuation could reach around £2 billion, according to earlier reports. Final pricing will depend on investor appetite for UK interest-rate cycle, as well as how Shawbrook’s specialist model is perceived against larger rivals.
The bookrunners are expected to include Goldman Sachs and Barclays, with Deutsche Bank, Stifel and UBS also involved. Timing the launch now reflects a window where equity markets have steadied later than rate-cut expectations firmed, though appetite for financials remains uneven.
For Shawbrook, this would be a second chance at life on the with a larger balance sheet, a clearer focus on specialist niches, and the backing of owners eager to crystallise gains later than nahead a decade in private hands. Whether investors share their enthusiasm will be known soon enough.
