IPO trading

How an IPO works.

When a company announces plans to go public, our pre-IPO market allows you to speculate on what that company's total market value might be worth when trading begins. This means you can follow the IPO through to when it launches and take a stance on how you think it will perform. You can trade on our pre-IPO markets right up until the company launches. Once the IPO takes place and the company lists, your trade is settled against the official market capitalisation at the close of the first day of trading. Important: you're trading on the company's overall market cap valuation, not individual share prices.

IPO trading example.

Example: If Company X is expected to IPO with a market cap of around £10 billion, you might see our pre-IPO market priced at £13 billion. You could: Go long if you think the actual market cap will be higher than £13 billion Go short if you think it will be lower than £13 billion If the company was to close with a market cap of £15 billion at the end of the first day of unconditional trading, your profit or loss is calculated against that valuation. If the IPO is cancelled or the company explicitly states it won’t happen, your open trades will be closed at the price at which they were opened, and no profit or loss will be realised.

What you need to know.

Settlement: your trades are settled against the official market capitalisation at the close of the first day of unconditional trading. International listings: if a company lists on an exchange outside the UK, valuations will be converted to GBP using the relevant currency exchange rate. Market cap focus: you're speculating on the company's total valuation, not on individual share prices. Timing: IPO dates can change. Companies may delay or even cancel their public offering plans. Pricing: our opening prices typically reflect market expectations, allowing you to take a view on whether the actual IPO market cap will come in above or below our initial pricing.

Speculate before companies list.

Trade on a company's expected valuation before its IPO goes live.

Speculate on a company's anticipated market cap before it goes public, going long or short through a spread betting or CFD account, with pricing driven by trading activity, breaking news and fund-raising updates.

Trade shares once they list.

Access the secondary market as soon as a newly listed stock starts trading.

Once a company lists, trade its shares via CFDs on the secondary market — UK IPOs are typically tradeable from around 8am UK time, while large US IPOs often don't become available until later in the UK afternoon.

Understand the risks of trading IPOs

New listings can be more volatile than established stocks.

Pre-IPO positions carry a set expiry date — if a company delays or cancels its IPO, open positions are voided at the price they were opened, with no profit or loss realised. Leverage can amplify both profits and losses.