City Of London

City of London’s Broker Shakeout Puts a Spotlight on Peel Hunt

Most of the capital’s other brokers have been taken out, leaving Peel Hunt as the last big independent name

The London Stock Exchange.

Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Twenty years ago, one of the crucial choices for any company hoping to join the London stock market was picking a corporate broker.

A financial crisis and thousands of pages of regulationsBloomberg Terminal later, broking names like Hoare Govett, Collins Stewart and Cazenove have been swept away by takeovers. For the companies braving the UK equity markets nowadays, a shrinking number of mostly international firms are left to help.