First firm joins LSE’s Pisces framework

A vehicle containing shares in a £1.3bn venture capital firm that supports tech spin-outs from Oxford University will be the first to use the new Pisces private stock market, according to the London Stock Exchange. The UK’s leading capital markets operator confirmed that shares in Oxford Science Enterprises, an early-stage VC fund renowned for investing in quantum computing pioneer Oxford Ionics, will be the first to trade on its Private Securities Market (PSM) with an auction expected “in the coming weeks.”

This transaction represents a significant milestone for London’s bourse, marking the first use of the nascent Pisces (Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System) framework, a newly sanctioned market allowing private companies to trade shares periodically, akin to a public stock exchange.

The shares will be held in a vehicle known as a TPEIC, an investment structure designed to facilitate private share trading, meaning Oxford Science Enterprises itself will not list on the London Stock Exchange’s PSM. The TPEIC will be owned by Tradable Private Equity (TPE), a relatively unknown capital markets start-up established to enhance liquidity in private assets.

“Private markets have expanded significantly over the past two decades, but liquidity mechanisms have not evolved at the same pace,” said TPE founder Fred Bouverat. He added that the vehicle will provide professional investors with exposure “to innovation from one of the world’s leading research universities… while removing the complexity” associated with a venture capital fund listing on the London Stock Exchange’s Pisces product itself.

Many investors had anticipated the new private stock exchange would host fast-growing companies, with fintech company Iwoca reportedly interested in trading its shares on the exchange. Speculation had largely centred around some of Britain’s prominent scale-ups after two dozen firms, including Revolut, Octopus, and Oaknorth, attended an event for interested parties last year. Octopus CEO Greg Jackson has since stated his utilities giant had “no plans” to use the exchange.

London Stock Exchange officials now expect its PSM to be utilised by a mix of companies and TPEIC-like vehicles similar to the one containing Oxford Science Enterprises’ shares. This development may disappoint market proponents who hoped the innovation would revitalise the UK’s lacklustre IPO pipeline. Successive Chancellors and Treasury ministers have championed the exchange as a crucial tool to encourage more firms to pursue a London listing. However, the proliferation of TPEIC structures, like the one used for Oxford Science Enterprises’ shares, is unlikely to accelerate or improve the chances of the firms whose shares they contain making a debut in London, officials conceded.

Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, said: “We are delighted that the first transaction will take place on our Private Securities Market in the coming weeks. This is a clear example of how companies, and structures such as TPEIC, can use our new market and the PISCES framework in innovative ways to access the solutions that best suit their needs.”

The auction will provide thousands of investors with access to shares in Oxford Science Enterprises, one of the UK’s largest and most dynamic venture capital funds.

The fund specialises in early-stage investments in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, life sciences, and quantum computing, and since its establishment in 2015, it has supported dozens of firms emerging from its neighbouring university. It recently exited a major stake in quantum computing unicorn Oxford Ionics, after the tech pioneer was sold to US rival Ionq for over £1bn. It is not known how many of the fund’s shares will be released by TPE in the auction, which is expected to occur before the end of March.