There has been a significant outflow of companies from the London Stock Exchange in recent years. So much so, the number of delistings has been outpacing new IPOs, creating a worrying trajectory.
And while last year saw a nice uptick of firms going public, things have ground to a halt again in 2026. Only a handful of firms have taken the plunge so far this year (hopefully things pick up in the second half if the Middle East peace deal holds).
In contrast, there is a hive of IPO activity in New York, with SpaceX recently breaking records. OpenAI and Anthropic, the makers of ChatGPT and Claude respectively, are also planning to list across the pond later this year.
I say ‘pond’, but the gulf that now exists between London and New York’s stock exchanges is as oceanic as the Atlantic. Our largest listed firm, HSBC, would only be the 35th biggest stateside.
Admittedly, there’s another UK firm — chip designer Arm Holdings — which is larger than HSBC. But that was acquired by Japan’s Softbank a decade ago, then floated on the Nasdaq in 2023.
Since then, it’s up almost 500%!
Bye-bye
Which brings me on to Ramsdens Holdings (LSE:RFX), which is also up around 500% since hitting a Covid low in March 2020. This includes a 30% jump today (23 June).
Ramsdens is a high street pawnbroker that offers currency exchange services, buys precious metals, and sells jewellery. Admittedly not as sexy as a tech/chip firm, but it’s one I’ve repeatedly highlighted as a hidden gem.
That’s because it’s well-run, consistently profitable, generates strong returns on capital, pays a progressive dividend, and has often looked very undervalued.
And while the high gold price turbocharged H1’s pre-tax profits (up 173%), the rest of its business has also been growing, including its online presence.
Ramsdens was targeting more shop openings (it has 174 today) and management recently struck a bullish tone on the future. Therefore, I was quite sad to see today’s news that it had agreed to be snapped up by US pawnbroker FirstCash.
Last year, this firm acquired Ramsdens’ rival pawnbroker H&T. So, it now has a very large presence across the UK.
To be fair, Ramsden’ ongoing earnings growth was dependent on a high gold price, which isn’t guranteed. So perhaps accepting the offer, which values the pawnbroker at approximately £206m, is the right move.
Is this the next one to disappear in a puff of smoke?
A FTSE 250 firm that looks like a strong acquisition candidate to me is Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LSE:ONT). It’s a healthcare firm that makes gene-sequencing devices.
I think this for a few reasons. First, the stock’s down 81% since listing in 2021, giving us an enterprise value of about £890m.
In today’s world of global private equity and large diagnostic firms, this wouldn’t be a large acquisition. The company has grown revenue at an annualised rate of 28% over the past five years, and ended 2025 with £302.8m in cash.
Unfortunately, Oxford Nanopore is still heavily loss-making, which adds risk and has always put me off. But its proprietary DNA and RNA sequencing technology is considered world-class, so I think vultures will come circling at some point.
Risk-tolerant investors might want to check it out at 115p.
Should you invest £5,000 in Ramsdens Plc right now?
When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.
And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Ramsdens Plc made the list?
Ben McPoland owns shares in HSBC.
