The Edinburgh-based platform, with over £14.3bn of assets under administration, said in a statement it was in the process of applying for ordinary shares to trade on the sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.
As widely expected, the proposed placing will involve existing ordinary shares owned by financial advisers, directors and other employees and will not see the group issuing new shares.
Shore Capital will act as nominated adviser, sole bookrunner and broker to the group, while Craven Street Capital will act as financial adviser.
Reports last Friday suggested the IPO could value the adviser-owned platform up to £150m and would involve the group raising £25m from the sale of shares.
Monday’s announcement did not contain further details on the firm’s estimated valuation.
Liquid shares
The platform group said the IPO will offer existing shareholders a liquid market in the company’s shares and allow them to realise all of or a portion of their investment in the company.
Sanlam UK, which reportedly owns a 40% stake in Nucleus, is expected to be a major shareholder upon admission. The wealth manager and its senior management will enter into customary lock-in agreements for specified periods of time following admission.
Nucleus has considered a listing in previous years, according to Sky News, which was the first to report the IPO. Talk turned more serious after it paid out its first ever dividend last August.
The Aim-listing was also pursued to simplify the group’s capital structure and raise its public profile.
“We started this business in 2006 to create value through greater strategic alignment of advisers and their clients,” said CEO David Ferguson (pictured). “Our commitment to this goal drives the development of our award-winning platform and has enabled us to grow from AUA of £100 million in 2007 to more than £14.3 billion today.”
In its last set of annual results, Nucleus recorded 72% higher net inflows of £1.7bn, which propelled revenue up by 21% to £40.4m. It has grown pre-tax profits from £30,000 to £5.1m within the span of five years.
Jumping on the bandwagon
Nucleus’ decision to publicly list comes as a number of platform providers have announced they will pursue IPOs.
Integrafin, the parent company of platform Transact, received a premium listing in a £650m IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in March and was admitted into the FTSE 250 months later.
Tilney managing director Jason Hollands said at the time Transact’s inclusion might encourage other rival platforms and wealth managers to go public.
AJ Bell has also revealed it will float on the LSE at some point in the third quarter.
Ferguson added: “Nucleus has been an exciting journey so far and we expect this admission to Aim to mark an important milestone in the business’s maturity and to open up new opportunities for us. We remain committed to keeping adviser/client alignment and transparency at the heart of what we do and to continue developing a market-leading platform and best in class customer service to deliver on our objectives.”
