UK IPOs on LSE Main Market, AIM and Aquis: markets, Official List, POATRs prospectus rules, sponsors and nominated advisers, process, fundraising options and liabilities—a practical guide for lawyers

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note aims to address key queries about IPOs, or initial public offers, on London’s equity markets, answering common questions.

What is an IPO?

IPO is short for initial public offering. It commonly describes the moment a company is first admitted to trading on a stock exchange—such as the London Stock Exchange (LSE)—and makes shares available to investors for the first time to raise capital. This is also called a stock market flotation or listing. However, in legal terms, ‘listing’ carries a more specific meaning—see the section titled What is the Official List? below for further details. In practice, an IPO fundraise typically entails issuing new shares to institutional investors, such as asset managers, pension funds and insurance firms. This may usually be accompanied by an offer of new shares to the general public as well. The fundraising structure can often also include existing shareholders selling some of their shares in the company to investors. The term IPO suggests that there will be some form of offering of the company’s shares at the point of admission to a stock market. That said, a company may potentially be admitted to a stock market without issuing new shares and without any marketing...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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