The gloom over the London market deepened on Tuesday after one of its oldest constituents was also acquired by an American buyer for £1bn. Spirent Communications, which has been publicly traded since 1955, has agreed to an all-cash acquisition by U.S. rival Viavi Group.
The British technology company is working with companies such as Amazon and Meta to test equipment. Shares rose 58% to 172p, just below the purchase price.
This is the fourth foreign bid for a London-listed company in recent weeks, following Currys’ offer and bids from Wincanton and Direct Line.
In a further blow to London, co-working giant IWG also announced it was considering exiting the London stock market in favor of “deeper markets” in the United States.
IWG, the parent company of Regus & Spaces, announced that it will switch to reporting its business results in US dollars and will decide by June on whether to adopt U.S. GAAP.
CEO Mark Dixon told the Financial Times: [the London Stock Exchange] Submit to one of the US exchanges. . . That is certainly something for boards and investors to consider at a later stage. ”
Last night, a consortium of London Stock Exchange Group’s biggest investors announced plans to sell a £1.9bn stake in the business.
A Blackstone-led consortium, including Canada Pension Plan and sovereign wealth fund GIC, announced plans to sell 21.5 million shares in a quick fire sale, reducing its stake from about 10% to 6%.
The consortium became a major investor in the FTSE 100 group following the sale of data group Refinitiv to LSEG, reducing its stake from 27% in the past 12 months.
In February, TUI shareholders voted to abandon the company’s London listing and move to Frankfurt. Paddy Power owner Flutter also said it plans to move its primary listing to the United States.
Managers and analysts say the UK’s wage leakage is due to small salary contracts and low valuations.
“The UK market remains unsupported by overseas investors,” Loewen and Beagles said.
Treasurer Jeremy Hunt is focused on reinvigorating the stock market.