Is London Stock Exchange’s Declining IPOs, a Cultural Malaise or Something Much Worse?

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Image via Bloomberg on X.

It emerged earlier this week that London had fallen out of the world’s top 20, initial public offerings — IPOs — and everyone had their reasons as to why this is the case.

For those at the back wondering what Initial Public Offerings are, it usually happens when a company decides to sell its shares to members of the public.

In corporate finance terms, it is also referred to as equity financing.

Money is the lifeblood of all businesses and any serious organization at some point or another in its evolution would have to decide whether to seek debt or equity financing to grow and remain relevant.

Debt financing from financial institutions isn’t necessarily attractive, given the punitive interest rates and not to mention the stringent terms and conditions, with equity financing, you’re able to raise money from everyday folks and major players, even it means diluting your shares in the company you started.

And raising IPOs or going public, sends a powerful signal to the wider world in terms of growth and future aspirations.

In the mid-noughties, things were fundamentally different when there was so much money in the system and regulation was…