YouGov founder mulls U.S listing for explosive growth in its ‘natural base’

Stephan Shakespeare, who founded the company with British politician Nadhim Zahawi over two decades ago and is now the group’s non-executive chair, said that YouGov has the potential to grow if listed in America. 

“I think the markets are better at supporting companies like ours there,” Shakespeare told the Financial Times, adding that the company may move either its primary listing to the U.S. or undertake a secondary listing there. 

The U.S. is YouGov’s biggest market, according to the research group’s 2022 annual report, and it accounts for nearly half of the company’s main research segment.

YouGov attributed the dominance of the U.S. in its key research segment to the “clustering of multi-national companies” and the strong focus on marketing.

Shakespeare echoed similar sentiments in his interview when explaining why the U.S. may be a contender. 

“[The U.S.] spends the most on marketing data; they are the most savvy. It is a natural base,” he said. 

A big reason why YouGov is considering listing in a larger market is that it has expanded since it acquired the consumer panel of German market researcher GfK for $342 million in July.

“Until recently, we’ve been too small. With the recent acquisition, that’s increased our size by 50 per cent overnight,” Shakespeare said. “I do feel that we could be introduced to a bigger market, [which] would be helpful.”

Despite recognizing the opportunity in U.S. markets, YouGov told Fortune it was not actively considering a U.S. listing anytime soon.

“The Board routinely considers all its listing options, including a premium listing on the LSE. No decision has been made and a U.S. listing is not being considered in the near term,” a YouGov spokesperson said.

Companies listing across the pond

YouGov isn’t alone to consider defecting across the Atlantic Ocean.

Several British companies, such as plumbing equipment supplier Ferguson, have moved their primary listings to the U.S. for better access to capital and proximity to a big market.

In March, Softbank-owned Arm, a British chipmaker, said it would pursue a U.S.-only listing.

CRH, an Irish building materials group, which is among FTSE 100’s largest companies, said it would move its primary listing to New York from London.

Although CRH planned to keep London as its secondary listing, the reason for its move was to “enhance commercial opportunities,” CRH chairman Richie Boucher said, according to Bloomberg, given the company’s North American revenue accounts for 75% of the total.

The flurry of companies choosing an American listing is tied to liquidity constraints in Britain, the potential for higher valuations in the U.S. and other macroeconomic factors due to Brexit. 

Advocacy TechUK found in a June report that the U.K.’s economy was “broken” for startups that were trying to scale their operations, and said the country’s regulations were “expensive and awkward.”

Even big companies like Microsoft have sparred with Britain’s competition watchdog over the blocking of its $69 billion dollar acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard.  

To stem the loss of companies moving elsewhere, the U.K. has relaxed rules governing its listings.   

“The U.K. is taking forward ambitious reforms to the rules governing its capital markets, building on our continued success as Europe’s leading hub for investment, and the second largest globally,” a U.K. Treasury spokesperson told CNBC earlier this year.