Guide to executing a successful IPO

This guide is intended to help private capital firms and portfolio company management teams prepare for and navigate the listing process. It covers the full IPO journey, from assessing readiness and developing the equity story through to governance, regulation, investor communications and life as a listed company.

First produced in 2016, the guide has been updated to reflect a more volatile market environment, shorter listing windows and higher expectations around reporting, governance and investor engagement. It also reflects the significantly different UK listings landscape, setting out the implications of recent changes to the UK listing and prospectus regimes.

The publication forms part of UK Private Capital’s wider work examining how to strengthen the connection between public and private markets and improve the attractiveness of listing in London. A recent survey from the Association found that 83% of senior leaders in private capital firms believe a larger domestic investor base is important to making UK public markets more attractive, while 77% called for a more positive narrative around UK markets.

That work is grounded in the view that strong private capital and strong public markets are mutually reinforcing parts of a single system. Private equity businesses have played an important role in UK public markets, with a report from McKinsey showing that 65% of UK-originated IPOs between 2015 and 2024 involved companies that had been fully or partially owned by private equity firms.