British tech firm Raspberry Pi has said it will list on the London stock exchange in a much-needed boost for the City.
The Cambridge business best known for selling computers to amateur coders and hobbyists has filed an intention to float and is expected to be valued at £500million.
The announcement will fuel hopes the tide is starting to turn amid an exodus from the London stock market as companies are taken over by foreign buyers or list their shares elsewhere.
Gambling giant Flutter, which owns Paddy Power and Betfair, will leave the FTSE 100 this month for New York.
But the pipeline of potential floats in London includes fast-fashion chain Shein, high street stalwart Boots and diamond giant De Beers as well as Raspberry Pi.
A piece of Pi? Raspberry Pi – best known for selling computers to amateur coders and hobbyists – aid it will list on the London stock exchange
However, hopes of other high-profile listings have been dashed in recent years.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said Raspberry Pi’s plans were ‘excellent’ and show the UK is ‘open for business’.
Raspberry Pi, founded in 2008, makes products used by enthusiasts to make computer servers or retro games consoles. Profits rose from £16million to £30million in 2023.
Co-founder and chief executive Eben Upton said it considered a New York listing but ultimately picked the UK.
And despite concerns about the health of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), there is a sense that the tide might be turning.
LSE chief Julia Hoggett last week said companies are waiting for new listing rules to kick.
‘We are going through the biggest rewrites of our primary market rules in 40 years and some of the reason why we have seen companies defer is that they are waiting for that rule change,’ she said.
Fast fashion firm Shein and Greek energy firm Mytilineos are considering a London listing. And there has been speculation about a Boots initial public offering (IPO), and Unilever floating its spun-off ice cream business in the UK.
Anglo American is also said to be considering a London listing for its diamond business De Beers.
Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘There is now an end in sight to the IPO drought. Optimism breeds more confidence, and the recent record rally of the FTSE 100 has enveloped London in a fresh sheen of positivity.’