The owners of Verisure, a provider of domestic alarm systems, are leaning towards a €20bn (£16.7bn) flotation in Amsterdam – a decision that would deliver another blow to London’s hopes of capitalising on a revival in the market for major initial public offerings (IPOs).
Sky News has learnt Euronext Amsterdam is emerging as the likeliest destination for a listing of Verisure following preliminary talks with a group of investment banks angling to work on the deal.
Sources close to Verisure insisted on Monday no final decision about whether to proceed with an IPO, or its venue, had been taken.
They acknowledged the possibility of such an outcome, however, despite the efforts of stock exchanges in London, Stockholm and Zurich to position themselves for the flotation.
One said recent rule changes in the UK could yet tip the balance back in London’s favour.
A number of Wall Street banks have pitched to work on the deal, Bloomberg News reported last week, while Sky News revealed in January preparations for an IPO were under way.
More from Money
Verisure is majority-owned by the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman (H&F), with a listing unlikely until next year.
Image: The company has roughly 5.5 million customers. Pic: Verisure
People close to Verisure said they expected that the company would be valued at more than €20bn, with some market sources suggesting the eventual figure could be as high as €30bn (£25.2bn).
That figure includes Verisure’s debt, meaning that its equity market capitalisation would be smaller.
Verisure has roughly 5.5 million customers in 17 countries, including the UK, Brazil, Chile, Italy and the Netherlands.
Under Austin Lally, its chief executive, it has been transformed into a lucrative subscription model-based business pitching technologically advanced services to its customer base.
Four years ago, the company was responsible for a $2bn dividend payout to its owners.
News of Verisure’s deliberations comes at an increasingly critical time for the London Stock Exchange.
David Schwimmer, the boss of its parent company, recently expressed confidence about its listings pipeline, although hopes that Shein, the Chinese-founded online fashion group, would stage a float in London this year have been buffeted by the early weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency and protests about its alleged use of child labour in its supply chain.
Data compiled by EY, the professional services firm, showed that 2024 was among the quietest years on record for new issuance, with just eight new listings – and only three on the main market.
Just £778m in proceeds was raised during the year through IPOs, down 18% on the previous year.
At the same time, the momentum of companies drifting away from London has gathered pace with Ashtead, the equipment rental company, saying it would relocate its listing to New York.
Flutter Entertainment, the gambling group behind Paddy Power and Betfair, has already moved its primary listing to the US.
H&F, which ranks among the world’s most successful buyout firms, became Verisure’s majority shareholder in 2015 when it bought the stake held by Bain Capital, another private equity group.
At the time, the company was known as Securitas Direct Verisure Group, with it continuing to trade under the Securitas Direct brand in some markets.
A spokesman for Verisure declined to comment on Monday.
A New York-listed company with a valuation of more than $21bn is to snap up Space NK, the British high street beauty chain.
Sky News has learnt that Ulta Beauty, which operates close to 1,500 stores, is on the verge of a deal to buy Space NK from existing owner Manzanita Capital.
Ulta Beauty is understood to have registered an acquisition vehicle at Companies House in recent weeks.
Royal Mail had repeatedly failed to meet the so-called universal service obligation to deliver post within set periods of time.
Those delivery targets are now being revised downwards.
More from Money
Rather than having to have 93% of first-class mail delivered the next day, 90% will be legally allowed.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
5:01
The sale of Royal Mail was approved in December
The target for second-class mail deliveries will be lowered from 98.5% to arrive within three working days to 95%.
A review of stamp prices has also been announced by Ofcom amid concerns over affordability, with a consultation set to be launched next year.
It’s good news for Royal Mail and its new owner, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Ofcom estimates the changes will bring savings of between £250m and £425m.
A welcome change?
Unsurprisingly, the company welcomed the announcement.
“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” said Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services.
“It follows extensive consultation with thousands of people and businesses to ensure that the postal service better reflects their needs and the realities of how customers send and receive mail today.”
Citizens Advice, however, doubted whether services would improve as a result of the changes.
“Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change,” said Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice.
“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards.”
Acknowledging long delays “where letters have taken weeks to arrive”, Ofcom said it set Royal Mail new enforceable targets so 99% of mail has to be delivered no more than two days late.
Changing habits
Less than a third of letters are sent now than 20 years ago, and it is forecast to fall to about a fifth of the letters previously sent.
According to Ofcom research, people want reliability and affordability more than speedy delivery.
Royal Mail has been loss-making in recent years as revenues fell.
In response to Ofcom’s changes, a government spokesperson said: “The public expects a well-run postal service, with letters arriving on time across the country without it costing the earth. With the way people use postal services having changed, it’s right the regulator has looked at this.
“We now need Royal Mail to work with unions and posties to deliver a service that people expect, and this includes maintaining the principle of one price to send a letter anywhere in the UK”.
Ofcom said it has told Royal Mail to hold regular meetings with consumer bodies and industry groups to hear their experiences implementing the changes.
An industry body has warned that the equivalent of more than one pub a day is set to close across Great Britain this year.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), an estimated 378 venues will shut down across England, Wales and Scotland.
This would amount to more than 5,600 direct job losses, the industry body warns. It has called for a reduction in the cumulative tax and regulatory burden for the hospitalitysector – including cutting business rates and beer duty.
The body – representing members that brew 90% of British beer and own more than 20,000 pubs – said such measures would slow the rate at which bars are closing.
BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said that while pubs are trading well, “most of the money that goes into the till goes straight back out in bills and taxes”.
“For many, it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time,” she said.
“When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul, and hurts the local economy.”
She urged the government to “proceed with meaningful business rates reform, mitigate these eye-watering new employment and EPR (extended producer responsibility) costs, and cut beer duty”.
“We’re not asking for special treatment, we just want the sector’s rich potential unleashed,” she added.
The government has said it plans to reform the current business rates system, saying in March that an interim report on the measure would be published this summer.
From April, relief on property tax – that came in following the COVID-19 pandemic – was cut from 75% to 40%, leading to higher bills for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.
The rate of employer National Insurance Contributions also rose from 13.8% to 15% that month, and the wage threshold was lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, under measures announced by Rachel Reeves in the October budget.