With private equity deals continuing to soar in the UK, there has been a huge increase in activity in public markets, with the Technology, Media and Telecoms deals market proving to be hugely active in the first quarter seeing deal volumes up 44% in the quarter, versus prior year. However, while an excellent source for working capital, UK businesses that have expanded rapidly since the pandemic have discovered the complications and significant workload in balancing a successful IPO with the effective performance of their duties as CEOs and CFOs. Chris Biggs, Partner at consulting and accounting disruptors, Theta Global Advisors, advised on a number of IPO processes since the pandemic began, and offers his insights into how UK companies can prepare for their IPOs without sacrificing their effective day to day management.

Moving forwards – as IPOs continue to remain an integral part of successful companies’ equity stories – professional service firms are proving themselves essential in securing capital and maintaining seamless expansions. Ill-preparation for IPOs can leave companies without necessary capital and with the management structures that led to their original success in a state of disarray. As such, effective and adaptable professional service firms offer an opportunity for leading CFOs and CEOs to share their workloads with financial experts, securing their needed working capital and allowing them to continue to focus on their day to day management and general corporate expansions.

Chris Biggs, Partner at Theta Global Advisors (https://thetaglobal.co.uk) – an accounting and consultancy disruptor – has commented:

“2021 is proving to be a record year for M&As, and as such, IPO issuances for UK companies as a large amount of uncertainty melts away that has lingered from Covid and Brexit. It is a perfect storm of returning optimism, loosening restrictions and undervalued firms. We have been instructed on a number of deals in the past year, seeing companies looking to expand via IPOs, bringing us on to help see their expansion and IPO process occur seamlessly as part of their general goals, as opposed to sacrificing one workload for another.

“The UK is seeing a blitz of IPOs from promising tech start-ups, and more are in the pipeline, a trend that could transform the staid image of London’s old-economy-heavy stock market. However, as these startups expand so rapidly, it will be essential for them to bring in diverse teams to help manage their IPO processes so that they don’t sacrifice what has worked so well for them and allowed them to see this expansion in the first place as CEO’s and CFO’s balance the competing responsibilities of their general business and financial management with the significant workload and pressure that comes with an IPO.”

“It is of paramount importance that the firm does not lose sight of their growth targets in favour of getting ready to list, this is often the cause of disappointing results in the first public reporting period. Firms should really aim to be able to operate as a public company almost from day one of trading, this will make the job much easier in terms of compliance at the stage of IPO. Agile professional service firms will be essential here in transforming the landscape of the British economy as these businesses seek IPOs, allowing for a more seamless process and the maintenance of strong activity in both the private and public markets.”