The IPO Window Is Open Again, but Only for a Certain Kind of Company

An open IPO window is not a single condition. It opens for particular profiles and stays shut for others, and the profile it favours tells you more about the market than the issuance volume does.

This year's cohort is unusually boring in the best sense: data-centre operators, payments infrastructure, industrial software, specialty insurance. What they share is demonstrable profitability at the point of listing. The pre-revenue narrative company that defined the 2021 vintage is largely absent, and where it does appear, it prices at a discount to its last private round.

Why sponsors are finally selling

Private equity and venture portfolios have been holding assets far beyond normal horizons, and the pressure to return capital has become the binding consideration. Accepting a lower valuation to achieve an exit is now a rational choice rather than a concession, which is why supply has resumed even without a valuation recovery.

The London problem

The UK continues to lose listing candidates to US exchanges, and the stated reason is consistently liquidity and index inclusion rather than regulation. Listing-rule reform addressed the complaints companies made publicly; it did not address the depth of the domestic buyer base, which is the complaint they make privately.