A DEVELOPER that wants to turn London’s underground Blitz shelters into a tourist attraction has decided to list in Amsterdam. London Tunnels yesterday dealt a blow to the City with its plans to raise £30million in a £130million flotation on Euronext. This is despite the company saying in January that it would list in London.
It is all the more outrageous as its only assets are London’s tunnels. There are growing concerns about the shrinking number of companies choosing to float in the capital and an exodus of firms listing overseas. Insiders said London Tunnels’ management had been courted by global investment banks including Netherlands-based ABN Amro after going public with plans to list.
They claimed that no big London investment bank pitched for them. ABN Amro worked on the recent successful float of private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Another source suggested London Tunnels had been told the UK’s financial watchdog was not keen on direct listings, where companies immediately start trading on the stock exchange without selling existing shares.
London Tunnels says it wants to renovate the deep tunnels built in the early 1940s to shelter people during World War Two. They ended up being used as an operations centre for parts of MI6 and said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond’s Q Branch. The developer now wants to turn the site into an underground bar and museum according to its website.
It plans to open to visitors in 2027. Topless tycoon.
