(Bloomberg) — Wise Plc is planning to list its shares in the US, the latest loss for London’s stock market after companies worth roughly $100 billion have shifted their primary listings stateside in recent years.
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While the London-based money transfer firm will maintain a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, the US will be its primary listing venue, Wise said in a statement Thursday. It’s the latest sign that low valuations and weak liquidity in London’s capital markets are pushing companies to list elsewhere.
Wise is set to join the ranks of other companies that have shifted their listing to the US in recent years, including online betting firm Flutter Entertainment Plc., plumbing products supplier Ferguson Enterprises Inc. and building materials company CRH Plc. Indivior Plc said this week it plans to cancel its secondary listing in London just a year after the drugmaker shifted its primary trading to the US.
Combined, the firms represented about $100 billion worth of market capitalization as they moved. The UK capital’s overall market capitalization currently stands at $3.5 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The London Stock Exchange didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We believe the addition of a primary US listing would help us accelerate our mission and bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits to Wise and our owners,” Kristo Käärmann, Wise’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement, which noted the US is “the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products.”
Wise shares jumped as much as 12% in early trading Thursday in London to hit a record high. Shares were briefly halted as they hit trading limits. Wise made its public debut in the UK in July 2021 and its stock has risen more than 40% since then — though it has spent much of its life as a public company trading below the original listing price.
Wise said the move will allow institutional and retail investors in the US to buy up its shares and noted many of them are currently unable to do so. The move should increase liquidity in the firm’s stock, allowing current shareholders “greater flexibility and opportunity to buy and hold our shares,” the company said.
“Given the extra liquidity and visibility this will give, we expect this to be seen as a positive,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Wood said in a note.
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