Broker AJ Bell aiming for £500m London IPO

In 2017 revenues grew 17% to £75.6 million and it made a pre-tax profit of £21.7 million.

The group does not intend to raise new capital as part of the initial public offer (IPO) of shares.

It would include a retail share offer, available to AJ Bell's customers. Our focus on the needs of our customers has resulted in assets invested via our platform increasing by 26 per cent a year on average over the last five years, with total assets under administration hitting £42 billion.

In announcing the IPO, Andy Bell, (pictured above in Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket Ground, where AJ Bell is a sponsor) described it as "a natural next step in our journey and will provide a further boost to our future growth, through the increased profile a stock market listing will give us".

He said: "We believe the outlook for our business is extremely positive". Reports have been circulating in the market for some time that the firm's founder Andy Bell was considering a listing of the company. "The need for people to save and invest for their future has never been stronger and we are making it easier for them to do that".

According to the paper, Woodford sold the 8% holding in the company to his former employers Invesco Perpetual in February.

Woodford's disposal of AJ Bell shares from his flagship Equity Income fund came when the manager was reaching the Ucits 10% hard limit on owning unquoted securities, which is enforced by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The company declared a dividend of 28.25 pence per share for the 2017 financial year, up 10% on the year before.

Thousands of customers of one of Britain's biggest investment platforms will be given exclusive access to its stock market debut after it said that it would list in London in a deal that could value it at £500 million.

Woodford became the "cornerstone" of Atom's capital base when he backed its launch in 2014, which at the time was the UK's first digital-only bank. It has always been our clearly defined strategy to nurture young technology-intensive businesses through the early stages of their development, ' a Woodford spokesperson said.

The company confirmed that the IPO does not come as a outcome of any need to raise capital.