Raspberry Pi shares skyrocket on London market debut

Raspberry Pi shares soared on their London public markets debut as the tech firm sought a £166million fundraise. 

The budget computer maker, whose products are popular with amateur coders and hobbyists, plans to use the cash raised for engineering capital expenditures, bolstering its supply chain, and ‘other general corporate purposes’.

With an initial public offering price of 280p a share, Raspberry Pi told investors it was seeking a valuation of £541.6million.

Debut: Budget computer maker Raspberry Pi, whose products are popular with amateur coders and hobbyists, anticipates raising £166million from its London Stock Exchange listing

Conditional dealing in the group’s shares started at 8am on Tuesday, meaning only certain shareholders can buy and sell the shares at this time.

Retail investors will have to wait until Friday to begin trading the company’s shares.

Raspberry Pi shares were up almost 27 per cent to 355p by mid-morning on Tuesday. 

Raspberry Pi has already agreed to sell £27million worth of shares to semiconductor giant Arm and up to £16million to investment management firm Lansdowne Partners.

Staff are set to gain a £68million windfall from the IPO under an employee incentive scheme, equivalent to £660,000 for each worker.

The Raspberry Pi listing looks to represent a rare victory for the London markets, which have struggled to attract new businesses and suffered defections to foreign stock exchanges and private ownership over the past couple of years. 

Building materials supplier CRH, plumbing specialist Ferguson, and Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment all recently moved their primary listing to Wall Street.

Capital attraction: Only four firms floated in London during the first four months of 2024

Softbank Group also chose New York for the blockbuster $55billion flotation of Arm Holdings last year despite heavy lobbying by the UK Government.

Many companies choose to list in the US rather than the UK because they can access much deeper capital pools and are more likely to gain higher valuations.

Only four firms floated in London during the first four months of 2024, but the listing of Raspberry Pi could signal a turning point for the UK capital.

Eben Upton, chief executive of Raspberry Pi, said: ‘The quality of the interactions during the marketing process has underlined our belief that London has the right calibre and sophistication of investor to support growing, ambitious technology businesses such as Raspberry Pi.

‘The reaction that we have received is a reflection of the world-class team that we have assembled and the strength of the loyal community with whom we have grown.’

Raspberry Pi’s listing comes amid reports that Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is closing in on a bumper £50billion flotation in London, which would be one of the city’s biggest listings.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and Labour’s shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, have both held talks with Shein’s chairman, Donald Tang.

However, many potential investors have expressed concern about a Shein listing due to major concerns about the company’s business practices.

The Singapore-headquartered company has been accused of copying designs from other retailers, using cotton from Xinjiang, where the Uyghur minority is suffering human rights abuses, and poor treatment of factory workers.

In May, a report from Swiss pressure group Public Eye found that some of Shein’s suppliers were still working 75-hour weeks even though the firm had promised to improve conditions.

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, a group of prominent fund managers, has warned against London becoming a ‘listing place of last resort’ for businesses with bad human rights records.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said a Shein flotation ‘could be another event that would help improve the allure of London as a destination for potential major public listings and its reputation as a key global financial hub post-Brexit.’