London Stock Exchange could have been forgiven for reflecting on a job well done in 2025 before Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson lobbed in an end-of-year grenade.
The LSE has come under increasing pressure due to the growing trend of companies choosing to list in New York instead of London because the premiums tend to be higher.
It was against this backdrop that the London Stock Exchange enjoyed its strongest year since 2021, seeing 拢1.9bn raised from聽11聽IPOs in 2025.
Q4 saw a flurry of activity with聽FinTech company Shawbrook and consumer company Princes Group pricing their IPOs at the end of October for 拢348m聽and聽拢400m respectively.
The three-year stamp duty holiday on shares in new UK IPOs,聽announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves鈥� Autum Budget last month,聽is widely seen as a positive step aimed at boosting the London IPO market.
However, the LSE鈥檚 recovery is still fragile, evidenced by the impact of Greg Jackson鈥檚 comments.
It followed yesterday鈥檚 announcement the Octopus Energy鈥檚 technology company, Kraken, had secured a $1bn investment at a valuation of $8.65bn.
The news paves the way for a potential stock market flotation 鈥� expected in the next two to three years – in either London or New York.
But here鈥檚 the problem. Jackson has shown his hand early by telling the Press Association that he would ‘love’ to choose London, but admitted it’s a ‘coin toss’ between the UK and New York.
鈥淪peaking as the founder, shareholder and a Brit, I would love it to be London,” he said.
鈥淏ut I would need to see more hustle from the聽London Stock Exchange聽(LSE) 鈥� they need to be bringing in more capital.鈥�
Swedish form Klarna, which has pioneered the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) space, picked New York instead of London for its long-anticipated IPO.
British chip designer Arm also snubbed London in favour of listing on the Nasdaq.
FinTech Revolut is reportedly weighing up a dual listing in London and New York.
That鈥檚 why a decision on where Kraken鈥檚 IPO takes place is already so widely anticipated.