Norway's Visma provisionally picks London for IPO, sources say

By Charlie Conchie and Supantha Mukherjee

LONDON (Reuters) -Norwegian software company Visma has provisionally chosen London over Amsterdam for its initial public offering next year, a boost to the London Stock Exchange after a barren period for new listings, two people familiar with the matter said.

Visma considered an IPO in 2023 but instead raised capital in a private share sale that valued it at around 19 billion euros ($22 billion).

While Amsterdam was considered, Visma has provisionally picked London for its IPO in part due to listing reforms made by Britain's financial regulator last year, the people said.

London's deeper capital markets and a UK-centric investor base also influenced the decision, they said.

They added that no firm decision had been made and Visma's preference for London was contingent on planned reforms coming into force, such as allowing companies with a euro share price to be included in FTSE indexes.

Visma and Hg, its main shareholder, declined to comment. The Financial Times first reported plans for the London listing.

The London market has seen several companies switch to overseas markets or snapped up by private buyers recently.

Last year, 88 companies delisted from the exchange and there were just 18 flotations in one of the quietest years on record, according to data from EY.

To try to revive the market, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority last year rolled out what it called the biggest package of changes to the listing rules in a generation.

The efforts are yet to bear fruit, though, with just five IPOs in the first quarter of 2025, according to EY.

Visma, which makes accounting, payroll and HR software products for customers across the Nordic, Benelux and Baltic regions, has been owned by private equity firm Hg since 2006 when it was taken private from the Oslo stock exchange at a valuation of about $450 million.

Since then, London-headquartered Hg has funded Visma's purchase of around 350 companies. In its latest accounts, Visma reported earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation of 893 million euros and revenues of 2.8 billion euros.

Hg, which owns around 70% of the company, is likely to retain a stake in the company in the long term, the people said.

($1 = 0.8532 euros)

(Reporting by Charlie Conchie and Supanthan Mukherjee. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Mark Potter)