LONDON’S ghostly listing market was given a jolt of life yesterday as a Turkish billionaire unveiled plans for a £6.5billion flotation of the world’s biggest soda ash business.
Soda ash, more commonly known in the UK as sodium carbonate, is the tenth most used industrial material in the world — essential for glassmaking, electric vehicle batteries and washing detergents.
3
We Soda will instantly become a FTSE 100 company if it lists, and be the biggest UK listing since drug giant GSK spun-off its consumer health arm for £28billion last year.
The number of UK Iinitial Public Offerings fell by 80 per cent in the first three months of this year while only five companies floated in the same period.
The WE Soda listing will be a considerable boost for London after a wave of companies fled for New York, including chipmaker ARM.
Tech firm bosses have been critical of London.
Revolut’s Nik Storonsky said: “This is not the business environment to operate in the modern world”.
THG’s Matt Moulding said being a London PLC “sucked from start to finish.”
Insiders said WE Soda picked London because it has a UK headquarters and its founder’s family is based in the UK.
Alasdair Warren, chief executive, told the FT: “In London we can be a big fish in a relatively modest-sized pond.”
WE Soda is controlled by Turgay Ciner, 67, a UK-domiciled Turkish billionaire and chaired by his wife Didem Ciner, 43, who leads the wider family’s interests in mining, media, chemicals and glass.
Most read in Business
New CBI boss: It’s not toxic
THE new CBI chief has denied claims the business lobby group has a “toxic” culture as it faces a crunch confidence vote next Tuesday.
Rain Newton Smith yesterday unveiled plans to overhaul the scandal-ridden organisation by slimming down its workforce and policy areas. President Brian McBride is also exiting early.
The CBI has consulted lawyers on insolvency options should it lose Tuesday’s vote, and in the meantime has hired boardroom consultant Ffion Hague, wife of the former Tory leader William Hague, to examine its governance.
Music takes on A.I. fakes
THE threat of AI to the music industry has prompted the Intellectual Property Office to develop an agreement for streamed music to have metadata that includes instant information about who wrote a song, performed it and who owns it.
An AI fake duet between rapper Drake and singer The Weeknd made the music industry wake up to the threat of digital rip-offs.
3
Heart On My Sleeve went viral until record label Universal complained and it was removed.
Many are now warning that regulation needs to be introduced swiftly to protect the creative industry.
A spokesman for the BPI said: “Artists and rights holders must retain control over when and how their music is used to train AI, and AI developers must seek prior authorisation and pay appropriate compensation for such uses, whilst also being fully transparent about the content used.”
Sales up for two outlets
THERE was cheer for WH Smith and B&M Bargains yesterday after both retailers issued profit upgrades.
B&M Eurpean Value Retail expects to grow sales and profits this year as more shoppers switch to the discounter to buy cheaper food, furniture and toys.
3
The retailer said that it expects to open another 30 UK shops this year and roll out more Heron Foods stores.
Sales rose by 6.6 per cent to £5billion in the year to the end of March but its profits fell by 17 per cent to £436million as shopping habits normalised and it faced inflation.
Meanwhile WH Smith has had a boom in trade at its airport and railway shops.
Sales in its travel arm jumped 18 per cent in the past four months, prompting the retailer to say profits will be better than expected.
Brits are prioritising holidays after three years of restrictions.
Pru quiz man out
PRUDENTIAL finance chief James Turner has quit after an investigation into his conduct during a hiring process.
The FTSE 100 insurer said the 54-year-old’s behaviour “fell short” of its expectations.
The Hong Kong based exec left after a probe into a “code of conduct issue relating to a recent recruitment situation”.
Prudential — once known for its “Man from the Pru” tagline — spun its UK and European arm into separate London-listed company M&G in 2019.
Moody blues
THE UK could still face a mild recession later this year, says a credit rating agency.
MOODY’S warned that the UK economy could shrink by 0.1 per cent this autumn, due to inflation and more expensive mortgage costs, caused by rising interest rates.
Around half of outstanding mortgages “will need to be refinanced at higher rates, reducing household disposable income”, Moody’s said.
It predicts that the Bank of England will lift interest from its current level of 4.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent.
The owner of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral said it expects to be hit with a “substantial financial penalty” after a bribery probe into one of its old Turkish businesses.
Shares in Entain have dropped 4 per cent.
Bright results
BRITISH mobile bank Monzo more than doubled its sales last year.
It narrowed its losses after growing customer deposits by a third to £6billion.
The bank — known for its fluorescent coral cards — now has 7.4 million customers, making it the UK’s seventh biggest by customer numbers.
Its losses shrank slightly from £119million to £116million in the year to February after it spent more on staff wages.
Chairman Gary Hoffman said he was “thrilled” to reach profitability.
