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Visma, the €19bn private equity-backed software group, may delay its plans for London’s biggest initial public offering in years after a broad sell-off in the sector.
Visma, owned by the British buyout firm Hg, has been considering listing in the UK as soon as the first half of this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
However, it may now push back an IPO into the latter half of 2026, the people said, cautioning that no plans had been finalised. The soonest a listing could take place would be in the second quarter, they added.
One person close to Visma said it and Hg did not want to rush into any decision given Hg’s long-term ownership.
Visma’s potential listing has been closely watched given it would be the UK’s first major IPO in years. The decision to choose London over Amsterdam was a boon for the City.
However, Visma’s plans have been complicated by a sell-off of software stocks this week given fears over how the rise of AI groups will affect their businesses. The tech-focused Nasdaq fell 1.4 per cent on Tuesday and about the same amount again on Wednesday, with double-digit declines for some stocks.
One person familiar with the process said that it was a difficult market for Visma to list into, but that preparations continued to proceed with the listing when the time was right.
Hg has owned Visma, which provides small to medium-sized businesses with accounting and payroll software, since 2006 when it took the company private at a valuation of about £380mn.
It has repeatedly reinvested in Visma through its newer funds and cashed out some of its holdings through sales to external backers.
Hg owns about 70 per cent of Visma with its co-investors, with the remainder held by groups including Singapore’s GIC and US private equity group TPG.
Visma previously considered pursuing an IPO in 2023 but instead opted for a private share sale to investors including Jane Street and Altaroc in a transaction that valued the company at €19bn.
Hg’s deliberations follow an uptick in activity for European IPOs after a prolonged post-pandemic slowdown.
Europe’s IPO market notched its best start to a year, with the ammunition maker Czechoslovak Group (CSG) raising €3.8bn in late January to pass a key test of market confidence.
Other potential London IPO candidates include the bookseller Waterstones, breakdown assistance provider RAC and Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison’s retail unit AS Watson and its European telecoms business.
Hg and Visma declined to comment.