A private equity giant worth £2.5bn has announced plans to quit the London Stock Exchange in protest over its poor valuation.
In the latest blow to the City, Petershill Partners is preparing to delist just four years after its initial float, at which point it was valued at £4bn.
Bosses said the FTSE 250 investment fund had been consistently undervalued on the stock market, and that it was preparing to return $921m (£684m) to its shareholders as part of the delisting.
Originally spun out of Goldman Sachs in 2007, Petershill raised £1.2bn when it floated in 2021.
Goldman remains a major shareholder and the fund is still operated by the Wall Street giant’s asset management arm.
Ali Raissi-Dehkordy and Robert Hamilton Kelly, the co-heads of Petershill Group, said: “The board and the operator believe the company has been consistently undervalued despite strong delivery of its strategy and that this is a unique opportunity to return significant near-term value to free-float shareholders.”
It is the latest of a flurry of departures to hit the London market, with the likes of Paddy Power owner Flutter and drugs giant Indivior leaving for the US.
Petershill has decided to leave after failing to boost its share price in recent months.
In the first six months of the year, the fund sold most of its stake in US venture capital firm General Catalyst for $726m (£539.5m) and acquired the private equity and venture capital firm Frazier Healthcare Partners for $330m (£245.2m).
It said this helped increase earnings to distribute to its members by 9pc to $152m (£112.9m).
However, despite its strong performance, bosses said that Petershill’s valuation had “not appropriately reflected the quality and underlying value of the company’s assets, and attractive growth prospects”.
Under the delisting plan, Petershill shareholders will receive 415 cents (308p) per share, a 35pc premium on its closing price on Wednesday.
Share surged 34pc following the announcement.
It is the latest blow for the City, which was rocked in July when it emerged that AstraZeneca, the most valuable company on the FTSE 100, had discussed quitting Britain in favour of a move to the US.
British car battery company DG Innovate, run by ex-Tesla director Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen, also announced it was quitting the London market in December, blaming a lack of support for start-ups.
