AJ Bell yesterday announced that it has appointed Numis Securities to explore an IPO on the primary market of the London Stock Exchange, with a float estimated to be “upwards of £500m”, according to the firm

The IPO, expected to take place in either Q4 2018 or Q1 2019, will include a retail share offer exclusive to AJ Bell customers. They have said that the listing will give investors “the opportunity to participate in AJ Bell’s future success”.

However, the group is not intending to raise new capital as part of the IPO and the group’s two largest shareholders, chief executive Andy Bell and Invesco Perpetual, will both retain cornerstone shareholdings post-IPO.

Commenting on the strategy, Bell said: “These are exciting times for our business. Over the last 22 years we have built a multi-award winning and easy to use investment platform that is the engine room of a fast growing and profitable business. An IPO is a natural next step in our journey and will provide a further boost to our future growth through the increased profile a stock market listing will give us.

“We believe the outlook for our business is extremely positive. The need for people to save and invest for their future has never been stronger and we are making it easier for them to do that. Our focus on the needs of our customers has resulted in assets invested via our platform increasing by 26% a year on average over the last five years, with total assets under administration hitting £42 billion.”

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