UK tuna giant floats, boosting London Stock Exchange

London: British canned tuna giant Princes Group floated Friday in a boost for the London Stock Exchange, which has struggled to reel in companies in t...

London: British canned-tuna giant Princes Group floated Friday in a boost for the London Stock Exchange, which has struggled to reel in companies in the face of competition from Wall Street.

The group best known for its cans of Princes Tuna entered the LSE with a valuation of £1.16 billion ($1.52 billion).

"Princes brings hope that the tide could be turning for London listings" Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, told AFP following the initial public offering.

In a good week for the LSE despite catching relatively small fry, business lender Shawbrook Group netted an IPO valuation of £1.92 billion Thursday.

It comes as London "continues to take plenty of criticism for the relatively limited number of new joiners in the past couple of years, particularly relative to the number of departures", said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.