Shawbrook Plots £2B London Return in One of the City’s Largest IPOs in Years
British lender Shawbrook said on Monday it plans to list in London, in what could become one of the largest offerings to hit the capital’s market in recent years.
The alternative bank, which focuses on specialist lending and savings products, said the flotation would strengthen its brand visibility in the UK and support future growth, while giving its private equity owners an opportunity to cash in part of their investment. Shawbrook is currently owned by Marlin Bidco, a holding company backed by BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that the IPO could value Shawbrook at up to £2 billion ($2.69 billion), potentially making it a bellwether for the recovery of London’s sluggish listings market.
The move would mark a return to the public arena for Shawbrook, which was taken private in 2017 by BC Partners and Pollen Street. Chief Executive Marcelino Castrillo called the decision a milestone for the group, saying Shawbrook had reached “real scale” in its markets and saw fresh opportunities to expand into new customer segments.
“We have achieved real scale, and our current markets are large and growing, supported by attractive tailwinds,” Castrillo said in a statement. “We also view a significant opportunity to bring Shawbrook’s offering to new types of customers.”
The company said it intends to trade shares to both retail and institutional investors, with a free float of at least 10%, making it eligible for inclusion in FTSE indices once listed.
A Test for London Listings
The planned IPO follows a long dry spell for London’s equity markets, where concerns over valuations and liquidity have driven several UK companies to pursue foreign listings instead.
Recent weeks, however, have shown signs of revival. Beauty Tech Group, a red-light therapy products maker, listed late last week, while Princes Group, a well-known canned foods brand, confirmed its own IPO plans.
Regulators have attempted to revamp London’s listing rules to attract new issuers and retain homegrown firms. Still, several companies, including fintech firm Wise, have shifted their primary listings overseas in search of deeper investor pools.
Shawbrook’s offering could provide a barometer for whether London’s reforms are enough to tempt private equity-backed firms back to the market.
The bank’s owners explored various merger options in the past two years, including talks with Metro Bank and Co-op Bank, but those discussions ultimately failed to produce a deal.
If successful, Shawbrook’s flotation could inject much-needed confidence into the UK’s capital markets — and serve as a test case for whether London can still host major domestic listings amid global competition for capital.
