Britain’s Marex Group files for US IPO

(Reuters) – Marex Group, a British commodities broker, announced plans on Friday to list its shares in New York, the latest blow to London’s bid to attract companies to its stock exchange.

Marex, backed by private equity firm JRJ, said it had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the U.S. markets regulator with a view to launching an IPO.

The news comes two years after the company’s failed attempt to list in London.

London has seen a string of high-profile defections this year by domestic or locally listed companies to New York in search of deeper liquidity and higher valuations, including building materials company CRH (NYSE:) and sports betting group Flutter Entertainment.

Cambridge-based chipmaker Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:) notably chose the U.S. Nasdaq over listing at home for its stock market debut in September.

Marex, one of the world’s largest privately owned commodities brokers, more than doubled its first-half pre-tax profits after buying a rival last year and as interest rates climbed, the company reported in August.

Last year, Marex agreed to buy ED&F Man Capital Markets to boost its metals business and expand in fixed income and equities. A source close to the situation said at the time the deal was worth $220 million.

Britain’s promises to boost the financial sector’s post-Brexit global competitiveness through changes such as easing stock market listing rules have so far been a damp squib, with many of the changes yet to be implemented and none so far having a substantial impact, lawmakers said in a report on Friday.

(Rerporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Elaine Hardcastle)