Highlights
- QPlay will become the first company to trade on Britain's new PISCES private stock market on 18 March.
- PISCES allows private companies to offer temporary share trading without going fully public.
- The London Stock Exchange had won regulatory approval for PISCES first but QPlay's deal on JP Jenkins will beat it to market.
Under the PISCES framework, companies can allow temporary trading in their shares without the need to go fully public. JP Jenkins won approval to operate a PISCES market in November last year.
Veronika Oswald, commercial director of JP Jenkins, told Reuters "Being the first operator to conduct a PISCES liquidity event is a major milestone for the team at JP Jenkins, along with the policymakers and partners who we have worked closely with over the last few years."
UK markets reform
The introduction of PISCES forms part of a broader package of reforms to Britain's capital markets designed to boost growth and increase the rate of initial public offerings in London, following a decline in recent years.
The London Stock Exchange was the first company to win regulatory approval for PISCES and announced its own inaugural planned deal earlier this month, though this is due to take place after QPlay's listing.
Similar regulated private market platforms already exist elsewhere. Rival exchange Nasdaq in New York has long operated a private market segment, giving established precedent for the model that Britain is now adopting.
QPlay's listing marks a significant step forward for the UK's ambitions to modernise and reinvigorate its capital markets.
