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 £1.9bn raised from 11 IPOs in 2025.
Q4 saw a flurry of activity with FinTech company Shawbrook and consumer company Princes Group pricing their IPOs at the end of October for £348m and £400m respectively.
The three-year stamp duty holiday on shares in new UK IPOs, announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autum Budget last month, is widely seen as a positive step aimed at boosting the London IPO market.
However, the LSE’s recovery is still fragile, evidenced by the impact of Greg Jackson’s comments.
It followed yesterday’s announcement the Octopus Energy’s 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 – expected in the next two to three years – in either London or New York.
But here’s 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.
“Speaking as the founder, shareholder and a Brit, I would love it to be London,” he said.
“But I would need to see more hustle from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) – they need to be bringing in more capital.”
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’s why a decision on where Kraken’s IPO takes place is already so widely anticipated.