PrimaryBid launches pan-European Connect platform

PrimaryBid's open-access B2B technology gives partners and their customers enhanced access to IPOs, placings and bonds

LONDON, Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PrimaryBid, the capital markets fintech bringing individual investors into public company fundraisings, today announced the launch of its pan-European B2B "Connect" platform. This open-access technology enables investment platforms, wealth managers, retail brokers, IFAs and fintechs across the UK and in the European Union to offer IPOs, placings and bonds directly to their retail investor customers.

Connect represents a new stage of partnership with over 60 brokerage partners signed up to PrimaryBid, including the UK platforms AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and interactive investor and a number of discretionary wealth managers which collectively have contributed over £500m in transaction demand through PrimaryBid since 2020. In the EU, Connect was launched in collaboration with PrimaryBid's strategic partner, Euronext, to facilitate pan-EU expansion and cross border capital formation. In France, Bourse Direct, Boursorama and EasyBourse are fully integrated into PrimaryBid's Connect API enabling at-scale automated distribution, and a number of leading EU retail intermediaries are in the process of completing integration.

Investment in the PrimaryBid Connect platform reflects growing scrutiny on public companies from regulators and policymakers around the limited access everyday investors have to 'institutional-only' fundraisings. As an independently regulated company, PrimaryBid has the leading track-record in winning access for retail investors to IPOs and secondary fundraisings working alongside all major investment banks. PrimaryBid has completed over 200 deals since the start of 2020.

For individual investors, PrimaryBid Connect brings deals directly into their chosen investment platform, maximising the opportunity to make use of tax-efficient wrappers such as ISAs or funds on account. Partners also have a choice over their preferred interface to PrimaryBid, including straight-through API processing for digital-first platforms. Other enhancements include shareholder verification and transaction audit functionality that meet emerging best practices around deal allocation and post-deal regulatory reporting.

James Deal, PrimaryBid's Head of UK said: "The launch of PrimaryBid Connect is an exciting milestone in our mission to deliver public inclusion in our capital markets through technology. In the UK, HM Treasury's recent capital raising review authored by Mark Austin stated clearly that retail investors should be included in all public company fundraisings. HM Treasury is also working to remove other practical barriers to public inclusion, including arbitrary limits on retail participation in the UK Prospectus regime, soon to be reformed through the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

"The launch of Connect will enable corporate issuers and their advisers to efficiently execute on the new governance standards by accessing the broadest range of platforms and retail investors. PrimaryBid stands ready to unlock nearly ~£500 billion in retail capital for UK plc alongside our distribution partners: the PrimaryBid Connect platform is the next stage in our ambition to simplify and enhance this process."

Eric Low, PrimaryBid's Head of EU, added: "Encouraging retail investor participation in the capital markets is a core feature of the European Commission's recent strategy and consultations. We are working with our European partners to simplify the capital formation process and deliver broad-based retail inclusion through technology, very much in the spirit of policymaker plans for Capital Markets Union."

Enquiries:

Mike Coombes, VP Corporate Affairs
mike.coombes@primarybid.com
020 3026 4750

Notes to Editors:

1. Across the UK, France and Netherlands there is an average of 363 primary market transactions a year, with 291 placings and over 70 IPOs (Average number of deals, 2017 to 2021 per Dealogic). Access to this area of the market is no longer reserved only for institutional investors, and issuers can tap into the vast pool of retail capital. In the UK alone, c.£400bn is held in stocks and shares ISAs, of which a material proportion is held as cash ready to be invested; this is in addition to the further c.£290bn held in cash ISAs (per ONS statistics, June 2022). 
2. PrimaryBid Connect comes in two forms - a 'ready-to-go' web-based application designed for wealth managers and smaller retail brokers, and an API solution that plugs directly into the systems of larger platforms and fintechs allowing for distribution of deals to retail investors at scale. Distribution partners can find out more about integrating IPOs and placings on partner platforms via Connect on the PrimaryBid website here.
3. About PrimaryBid: PrimaryBid is a regulated capital markets technology platform connecting public companies to their communities during fundraisings. Its digital capital raising platform features both B2B and B2C interfaces, unlocking access to IPOs, follow-on raises and other instruments to individual investors, improving capital formation and driving fairness into public markets. A partner of London Stock Exchange and Euronext, PrimaryBid's platform is host to hundreds of thousands of UK and European investors. In the UK, PrimaryBid has been used by more than 250 FTSE and AIM companies including Severn Trent, Compass Group, Taylor Wimpey, Ocado, Croda, Aston Martin. In February 2022 PrimaryBid announced a $190m Series C investment round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to drive international expansion.