British fintech firm Wise has revealed plans to switch its primary listing from London to New York in yet another setback for the City.
The money transfer firm which listed in London in July 2021, said the move would “help us accelerate our mission and bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits to Wise and our owners”.
It wants to drive greater awareness of the brand in the US, which it said was the “biggest market opportunity in the world for our products”.
A primary listing on Wall Street would also give it “better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market”, it added.
It said the change would benefit the group by “expanding the pool of investors able to invest in Wise, in particular US domestic institutional and retail investors, the largest global constituent of investors, many of whom are currently unable to hold our shares”.
Under the plans, the firm would be dual listed, with a secondary listing in London as part of its “ongoing commitment to the UK”.
Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder and chief executive of Wise, said: “The UK is home to some of the best talent in the world in financial services and technology, and we will continue to invest in our presence here to fuel our UK and global growth.”
It deals another blow to London’s beleaguered stock market after a raft of companies have ditched their primary listing in London, including Paddy Power owner Flutter, mining group BHP, building materials group CRH and construction rental firm Ashtead, while a growing number of UK listed firms have also been bought out by foreign rivals or taken private.
And on Wednesday, Glencore-backed metal investment firm Cobalt scrapped its plans to list in London, just two days after drugs company Indivior said it would cancel the secondary listing it had retained in London, having already switched its main listing to the US last year.
Chinese fast fashion giant Shein has also reportedly ditched London for Hong Kong for its upcoming blockbuster initial public offering (IPO).
Wise, which was launched in 2011 under original name TransferWise, said it was not turning its back on the UK.
It said: “Our confidence in UK talent and the tech ecosystem here remains undimmed.
“One-fifth of our employees are based in the UK and we plan to continue hiring and investing in our UK team.”
The group said it would call a shareholder meeting in the coming weeks for investors to vote on the proposal.
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