AJ Bell chief executive Andy Bell says retail investors are often overlooked in company IPOs as he announces the deadline to apply for shares under the firm’s planned flotation later this year.
In an announcement on Wednesday the investment platform and broker firm revealed investors have until 15 October to open an account.
AJ Bell’s timeline
AJ Bell is aiming to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018 or early 2019. It first announced its intention to IPO the platform in February.
If the listing goes ahead as planned, the application period for eligible customers is expected to start at the end of November or early December 2018 and be open for a minimum of seven days.
Eligible customers may apply for shares through their Sipp, Isa, Lifetime Isa or dealing account. The minimum value of shares which must be applied for in each account is £1,000.
Retail investors welcome in IPO
Bell (pictured) said it is important to give retail investors access to the flotation price of the shares because traditionally IPOs are done “behind closed doors”.
“As a company that aims to make investing easy for people, this didn’t feel like the right approach for us and so UK customers that have an account with us by 15 October will be eligible to apply for shares in our IPO,” he said.
Bell added: “All existing UK customers can now register their interest in our proposed IPO via our website or their financial adviser. We are expecting to publish an approved prospectus in November 2018 which will include our audited annual results for our financial year ending 30 September 2018, to help investors decide whether our IPO is right for them before the application period opens.”
The move is part of a wider trend among platform providers to publicly list their businesses. In June, Nucleus announced plans to pursue an IPO, while Intergrafin, the parent company of platform Transact, received a premium listing in a £650m IPO on the LSE in March and joined the FTSE 250 months later.
