A float, a strike-out, and a swap

Loxley Payments, the UK payments fintech, announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, targeting a valuation of around £3.5bn — the largest London listing announcement this year. The founders will keep enhanced voting rights through a dual-class share structure, and the company said it chose London over New York after what it politely called "a competitive process".

An intention-to-float announcement starts the public phase: a prospectus, an investor roadshow, and several weeks of pricing tension.

The High Court refused permission on Wednesday for a shareholder campaign group to continue a derivative claim against the directors of Grosmont Energy, which alleged the board breached its duties by adopting an energy-transition plan the group says is inadequate. The judge held there was no prima facie case: strategy choices of this kind sit with directors unless bad faith or irrationality is shown.

The group is considering an appeal, and said the claim had already succeeded in forcing transition planning up the board's agenda. Grosmont said the court had confirmed what it always maintained — that its plan is a matter of business judgment.

Thamesgate Estates agreed a consensual restructuring on Wednesday under which its lending syndicate will swap £600m of debt for an 85 per cent equity stake in two Docklands office towers. Higher interest rates and softer valuations had pushed the assets through their loan covenants, and refinancing on today's terms proved impossible.

The deal avoids formal insolvency: the lenders take ownership and fund the refurbishment; Thamesgate keeps a minority stake and the management contract.