# Companies are empowered to retain control with alternative routes to liquidity Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-11-18 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: London IPO Market Trends 2021: Fintechs Flourish Amidst Meta Description: Discover the latest trends in the London IPO market, from the surge of fintech IPOs to alternative financing options. Stay ahead with Globacap insights. URL: https://financedigest.com/companies-are-empowered-to-retain-control-with-alternative-routes-to-liquidityhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/successful-professionals-handshaking-in-office-with-young-businesswoman-near-by-sbi-300726783-1736837194894-compressed.jpg) _By_ **_Alexander Green,_** _Co-founder and Chief Evangelist at Globacap_ With the LSE seeing more listings than ever in the first six months of 2021, this signals a healthier market, renewed investor confidence and companies’ eagerness to come to London to access superior pools of liquidity. Amongst the popularity, we’ve seen an explosion of fintechs in the London IPO market, with the likes of Wise, Darktrace and more listing to raise capital to fund expansion and increase market visibility. It is also expected that later in the year, Klarna, Monzo and the DNA sequencing firm, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, will list on the LSE contributing further to this already [booming market](https://www.financedigest.com/concrete-placing-booms-market-notable-developments-geographical-outlook.html "Concrete Placing Booms Market: Notable Developments & Geographical Outlook"). Although IPOs may sound tempting, they can be very unpredictable and may not always result the infusion of capital [companies expect](https://www.financedigest.com/around-40-of-german-companies-expect-output-decline-in-2023-iw-institute.html "Around 40% of German companies expect output decline in 2023 – IW institute"). Deliveroo, dubbed “London’s worst [IPO](https://www.financedigest.com/british-pm-sunak-revives-talks-for-arms-london-ipo-ft.html "British PM Sunak revives talks for Arm’s London IPO -FT") in history”, is a reminder of the major challenges of going public. Institutional investors’ concerns surrounding the dual class structure, coupled with issues surrounding the treatment of workers, led to the [shares plummeting 31% on its first day of trading](https://www.financedigest.com/social-trading-is-the-new-way-that-gen-z-are-getting-their-share-of-the-pie.html "Social Trading is The New Way That Gen Z Are Getting Their Share of The Pie"). Deliveroo and Wise did something different before listing, by [offering their shares](https://www.financedigest.com/twitter-shares-cruise-towards-musks-offer-price-as-deal-deadline-looms.html "Twitter shares cruise towards Musk’s offer price as deal deadline looms") to their customer base first. This achieved varying levels of success between the two companies, given Wise went on to be London’s [biggest ever](https://www.financedigest.com/the-biggest-ever-shake-up-of-insurance-law-is-finally-here-wellalmost.html "The biggest ever shake up of insurance law is finally here! Well…Almost.") float. But this could indicate a new [trend to offer customers](https://www.financedigest.com/customer-engagement-trends-that-will-rule-banking-and-financial-services-in-2021.html "Customer Engagement Trends that Will Rule Banking and Financial Services in 2021") preferential shares earlier than going public. We recently conducted some research as part of [our](https://globacap.com/private-finance-report) [report](https://globacap.com/private-finance-report) which found that (87%) of CFOs and finance directors want to keep their companies private for as long as possible. Interestingly, 78% of leaders in the technology sectors and 84% of leaders in finance are also looking for [alternative](https://www.financedigest.com/demystifying-alternative-finance.html "DEMYSTIFYING ALTERNATIVE FINANCE") ways to finance their businesses, ultimately allowing them to stay in control. In the shadow of a year of decidedly mixed IPOs, the time is right to be [opening a conversation around alternative](https://www.financedigest.com/innovation-is-the-path-to-revenue-how-financial-organisations-can-open-up-alternative-revenue-streams.html "Innovation is the path to revenue: How financial organisations can open up alternative revenue streams") routes. As IPOs continue, we will ultimately see more of them fail, but this is because of the inherent faults in the traditional process, rather than that of the company. There are companies listing in London that represent the cutting edge of UK industry, but so many continue to choose the old, traditional route to liquidity, when they should be [empowering themselves to stay in control](https://www.financedigest.com/national-world-launches-new-ad-manager-platform-powered-by-danads-empowering-businesses-to-take-control-of-their-advertising.html "National World launches new ad manager platform, powered by DanAds, empowering businesses to take control of their advertising"). IPOs, direct listings and company buyouts are no longer the only options thanks to technological [advancements in private capital markets](https://www.financedigest.com/the-avocado-oil-market-to-see-through-explicit-advancements.html "The Avocado Oil Market To See Through Explicit Advancements"). More options are now available to [companies who want to generate](https://www.financedigest.com/mercia-partners-with-augmentor-to-support-the-next-generation-of-vr-and-ar-companies.html "Mercia partners with Augmentor to support the next generation of VR and AR companies") capital, offload shares, or even exit, without the need to go public. There are some early [adopters in the industry](https://www.financedigest.com/automotive-hmi-system-market-recent-industry-developments-and-growth-strategies-adopted-by-players.html "Automotive HMI System Market: Recent Industry Developments and Growth Strategies Adopted by Players") who are trying to change the widespread mentality. They’re using blockchain technology and tokenization to set a new industry paradigm and showcase that there could be a new route to the creation, management and sale of [company securities](https://www.financedigest.com/5-ways-to-protect-your-company-from-cyber-security-threats.html "5 Ways to Protect Your Company From Cyber Security Threats"). The world outside of [finance is starting to understand the benefits](https://www.financedigest.com/can-finance-reap-the-benefits-of-the-cloud-without-compromise.html "Can finance reap the benefits of the cloud without compromise?") of physical asset tokenization – and it’s also the direction of travel for many financial processes. This is the [future of private capital markets](https://www.financedigest.com/dry-ice-market-2015-outlook-current-and-future-industry-landscape-analysis-2025.html "Dry Ice Market 2015 Outlook, Current and Future Industry Landscape Analysis 2025") as we see it. It could drastically impact the [way that private & public markets operate and could enable a future](https://www.financedigest.com/5-ways-to-protect-your-wealth-for-future-generations.html "5 Ways to Protect Your Wealth for Future Generations") that gives control of funding back to the companies themselves. Alongside this, [technology could reduce](https://www.financedigest.com/how-technology-is-helping-to-reduce-loneliness-among-the-elderly.html "How technology is helping to reduce loneliness among the elderly") the minimum investment threshold, enabling many smaller investors to get involved – without increasing the administrative headache for the company or the markets themselves. What is interesting is the majority of innovative [companies looking to publicly list will be familiar with blockchain](https://www.financedigest.com/blockchain-company-aidtech-secures-investment-from-enterprise-ireland-and-sginnovate.html "Blockchain Company, AID:Tech Secures Investment from Enterprise Ireland and SGInnovate ") tech, many will be using it as a fundamental part of their business offering, or to support the running of their organisation. Therefore, we must encourage innovative companies to make the leap to start using blockchain in their [capital raises](https://www.financedigest.com/shares-in-monte-dei-paschi-plunge-14-after-capital-raise.html "Shares in Monte dei Paschi plunge 14% after capital raise") and liquidity rounds. Many [companies will continue](https://www.financedigest.com/different-employee-engagement-outcomes-for-u-s-and-canadian-companies-amidst-continued-economic-growth-pressures.html "DIFFERENT EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT OUTCOMES FOR U.S. AND CANADIAN COMPANIES AMIDST CONTINUED ECONOMIC GROWTH Pressures") to see an IPO as a goal, particularly for the buzz and prestige it can bring. However, what unsuccessful IPOs have taught us is that there are clear, fundamental issues with the traditional process and that [companies deserve a wider range of liquidity](https://www.financedigest.com/closing-a-limited-company-three-alternatives-to-liquidation.html "Closing a limited company: three alternatives to liquidation") options. It won’t be long before companies start to fully embrace blockchain tech, and at that point we’ll likely see a [trend of more companies](https://www.financedigest.com/mastering-the-2016-company-logo-design-trend.html "Mastering The 2016 Company Logo Design Trend") feeling empowered to stay private and taking back control of their own liquidity. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---