Chairman of the Board of Directors at Ebury, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, has expressed concerns about the fintech’s potential Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Carnegie-Brown revealed that current market conditions centred around Donald Trump’s ongoing global trade war with various countries has placed caution on whether Ebury will forgo a listing in the UK.
Ebury is reportedly looking to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), eyeing a potential £2bn valuation. This comes following many other fintech companies, such as Klarna, preparing for their own IPOs in the coming months.
However, there has been a sharp decline in fintech investment since hitting record-highs in 2021. This was primarily due to investor confidence dropping in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war which brought about various macroeconomic issues.
Investment has been dwindling, particularly in the UK, for the past several years. hile the fintech sector is generally optimistic regarding a bounceback in future capital, Carnegie-Brown is more on the cautious side.
He said: “We’re talking a lot to analysts, the company is in a good position to float, the question, of course, will be is the market ready for it? And of course we’ve seen quite a lot of recent volatility.”
Carnegie-Brown is alluding to the recent Wall Street sell off in stocks over recent weeks, largely contributed by President Trump’s battle to impose tariffs on imported goods from countries such as China and Canada.
Furthermore, while not listing in the US, Klarna is preparing for its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, providing competition for fintech investment.
When asked when he believes an official listing will happen, Carnegie-Brown gave no definitive answer, but revealed that it could be soon and is confident of the IPO going through.
“I think we will have an answer to that question, certainly in terms of whether it happens this summer, in the next four or five weeks,” he said.
“I’m in a positive place around the company’s performance but of course the market is beyond my control.”
Another cause for concern for UK investment?
While Ebury listing in the UK will no doubt come as a major boost to a sector that is vying to attract more companies to list on the LSE, Carnegie-Brown’s comments will remind the UK sector of its current predicament.
The UK has already failed to encourage Klarna to list its IPO in the country, and is currently facing a potentially damaging indictment of its market if its two most successful digital banks, Revolut and Monzo, also decide to list in the US.
Revolut have reportedly been preparing for an IPO for several months through secondary share sales, whilst Monzo CEO TS Anil is in favour of a US listing as opposed to sticking home in the UK.
Ebury’s eventual listing potentially this summer will bring about new optimism for the market, but will also serve as a reminder that it should look to consolidate its home-based companies to further boost its position as one of the leading countries in fintech.
