By Paul Clarke
Of Financial News
HSBC cancelled a key gathering of U.K. business executives after its retreat from investment banking in the country.
The bank has called off its U.K. Corporate & Investor Conference that was due to take place in May, according to people familiar with the matter. The event brings together HSBC's research team with companies across sectors to discuss key issues affecting the U.K. market.
These conferences are often an opportunity for banks' research staff and bankers to connect with key clients and network ahead of any potential transactions down the line.
HSBC's decision to shut down the conference comes as it downsizes its U.K. investment banking business. It is shutting its M&A and equity capital markets team in the U.K. and other markets as part of a broader cost-cutting drive by Chief Executive Georges Elhedery that will see it focus on core business lines.
A spokesperson for HSBC confirmed the conference had been cancelled.
Dealmaking teams have typically funded a portion of research costs at large investment banks since the function has become reliant on fund managers paying directly for stock analysis under MiFID II regulation. Around 30% of costs are borne by investment banking teams at large institutions, according to bankers and research experts.
HSBC's equities trading and research functions are currently under review by Elhedery, he told journalists during its full-year results in February, although the bank has ruled out closing the divisions entirely, Financial News reported.
Elhedery told reporters that he didn't "expect the same size benefits" as the roughly $300 million that HSBC expects to save annually by shutting M&A and ECM in Europe and the Americas.
In the U.K., where around 200-300 bankers were affected by HSBC's layoffs, the bank is closing its corporate broking functions, which are seen as key to gaining investment banking work in the country. ECM and M&A bankers are also being cut as it rolls out the changes.
Some M&A bankers are being retained on temporary contracts to complete existing deals, while other dealmakers are being offered two or three months to wrap up work, FN reported in February.
As FN reported at the time, banker bonus discussions were booked in dealmaker diaries for Feb. 24, but those who were let go from the firm received no payouts.
Financial News is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
Write to Paul Clarke at paul.clarke@dowjones.com
Website: www.fnlondon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
By Lars Mucklejohn
Of Financial News
The London Stock Exchange Group has written down the value of its stake in retail investment platform PrimaryBid by 87% in a major blow to the fintech.
LSEG said its holding had a fair value of 4 million pounds ($5.2 million) at the end of 2024, down from 31 million pounds a year earlier, according to the exchange group's annual report.
LSEG has a 7.2% stake in PrimaryBid, a person familiar with the matter told Financial News. That implies PrimaryBid's valuation has cratered to around 56 million pounds, down from 431 million pounds at the end of 2023.
It is also a massive fall from the roughly $715 million price tag PrimaryBid achieved in its last funding round in 2022, led by Japanese investor SoftBank.
LSEG bought into London-based PrimaryBid in 2020 following a commercial partnership between the pair. Charlie Walker, then LSEG's primary markets head and now deputy chief executive of its flagship stock exchange, joined the fintech's board as part of its investment.
The write-down from one of its largest investors is the latest setback for PrimaryBid, which was once hailed as a potential 'unicorn.'
It was founded in 2016 and provides technology that connects retail investors to listed company share sales including IPOs.
In February, nine of PrimaryBid's senior staff joined Peel Hunt-backed rival RetailBook, including co-founder James Deal. Former LSEG chair Donald Brydon stepped down from the same role at PrimaryBid last April.
The firm put around 40 jobs, or a quarter of its workforce, at risk of redundancy early last year, Bloomberg reported.
The shake-up followed a dearth of IPO activity, with 2024 marking the worst year for new London listings since the financial crisis. Meanwhile, policymakers are pushing for urgent reforms to encourage more retail investment among the British public.
Cutting its administrative costs helped PrimaryBid narrow its pre-tax losses to 22 million pounds in the year ended March 31, 2024, an improvement on 29 million pounds a year earlier, according to registry filings.
The 27 million pound fair value write-down makes PrimaryBid the least valuable of the five smaller equity investments listed in LSEG's annual report--those it doesn't have a majority stake in or wield significant influence over.
It was previously the second largest behind Brussels-based financial market infrastructure provider Euroclear, in which LSEG sold its 377 million pound stake last December.
The top spot is now held by Finbourne Technology. LSEG almost doubled the valuation of its stake in the British investment data management platform to 14 million pounds at the end of last year, up from 8 million pounds in 2023.
PrimaryBid declined to comment.
Financial News is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
Write to Lars Mucklejohn at lars.mucklejohn@dowjones.com
Website: www.fnlondon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2025 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)
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