Representational file photo of a tuna fish.
London: British canned-tuna giant Princes Group floated Friday in a boost for the London Stock Exchange, which has struggled to reel in companies in the face of competition from Wall Street.
The group best known for its cans of Princes Tuna entered the LSE with a valuation of £1.16 billion ($1.52 billion).
“Princes brings hope that the tide could be turning for London listings” Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, told AFP following the initial public offering.
In a good week for the LSE despite catching relatively small fry, business lender Shawbrook Group netted an IPO valuation of £1.92 billion Thursday.
It comes as London “continues to take plenty of criticism for the relatively limited number of new joiners in the past couple of years, particularly relative to the number of departures”, said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
A number of companies have in recent years shown preference for New York over London, including sports betting giant Flutter and microchip firm Arm, with the United States seen as a better location to grow market value.
British fintech company Wise in June announced plans to switch its primary stocks listing to New York from London, noting that the United States provided its “biggest market opportunity”.
London has also come up against increased competition from the likes of Paris and Amsterdam following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
London is fighting back, however, and this week its top-tier FTSE 100 index reach a record high valuation in line with indices on Wall Street and in Asia.