£3bn insurer deals blow to London stock market as it chooses New York for listing

Aspen Insurance has delivered a blow to the British stock market by unveiling plans to list in the US instead of the UK.

Documents show that just before Christmas, the firm filed paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The Lloyd’s of London specialty insurer had previously been listed on the NYSE, but was taken private by PE firm and owner Apollo in 2019.

With it looking to get listed again, London could have been a credible opportunity. While Aspen is headquartered in Bermuda, 524 of its 1,053 global staff are in Britain versus only 426 in the US, according to The Telegraph.

The publication also said that Aspen was now valued at around £3bn.

However, the insurer has chosen the NYSE for its IPO, with it hiring Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Citi to work on helping it get listed again on Wall Street.

New rules

Aspen preparing for a listing on the NYSE is a setback for the UK, with the London Stock Exchange, government and FCA introducing reforms to try and attract such companies.

For example, in July 2024, the FCA set out a simplified listings regime for businesses seeking to list their shares in the UK.

The new rules remove the need for votes on significant or related party transactions and offer flexibility around enhanced voting rights.

Shareholder approval for key events, like reverse takeovers and decisions to take the company’s shares off an exchange, is still required.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The financial services sector is central to the UK economy, and at the heart of this government’s growth mission.

“These new rules represent a significant first step towards reinvigorating our capital markets, bringing the UK in line with international counterparts and ensuring we attract the most innovative companies to list here.”