- Founders, employees get extra voting rights for limited time
- Direct listings are becoming more popular among U.S. startups
Wise, a digital-payments company, said it plans to float on the London Stock Exchange via a rare direct listing, bolstering the U.K. in its ambition to expand as a tech hub.
The company is also giving its founders and employees extra voting rights for their shares for a limited time, allowing them to retain control after Wise goes public, it said in a statement Thursday.
While direct listings are uncommon in London, they have gained traction with hot technology startups in the U.S. The likes of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. and website-hosting service Squarespace Inc. took this route to public markets in New York this year.
In a direct listing, a company doesn’t raise fresh capital and existing investors can sell shares directly on the open market, without the usual lockup period restrictions in a traditional initial public offering. It also saves on underwriting fees paid to bankers and the time spent on a bookbuilding process.
A reference price is assigned to the stock before trading begins rather than one being determined by investor demand.
Wise’s float is a big win for the U.K., which wants to attract more listings from high-growth companies in the technology sector. London is working hard to maintain its position as a major financial center in a post-Brexit world.
The U.K. government is also mulling the introduction of weighted voting rights on the premium segment of the LSE, currently confined to the standard segment. Yet, some of London’s biggest investors have expressed concerns about weakening investor protections. When Deliveroo Plc listed in March, its dual-class structure was criticized by the likes of Legal & General Investment Management.
Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, was started in 2011 when Estonian-born co-founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann grew frustrated with the high fees charged by banks on money sent from London back to their homeland. The firm has expanded its money-transfer business into new markets in Asia andhasmore than 10 million customers.