Russian investors have been able to participate in the initial public offering (IPO) of a US unicorn company (capitalisation in excess of USD1 billion), thanks to a partnership between BCS Global Markets and Tigress Financial Partners.
Through the partnership, BCS’ clients had the opportunity to participate in the IPO of US ride sharing service Lyft which has a market capitalisation of USD21 billion. BCS has previously enabled its investors to participate in high quality IPOs in the Russian markets but this is the first time they have had access to the US.
The partnership follows the orderly development of the BCS Global Markets’ business in the US, which started in 2015, when the investment bank acquired a broker and dealer company with an office in New York. The US division of BCS Global Markets – BCS Americas, is predominantly focused on finding unique opportunities within the US market – such as LYFT’s public offering, in order to strengthen the reach of BCS.
Gary Esayian, Director, CEO, BCS Americas, says: “BCS Global Markets has been following the US market closely and has been waiting for an opportunity of this calibre. We are delighted to have offered our clients the exciting opportunity to be able to participate in a hi-tech business, such as LYFT. Our strategic partnership with Tigress Financial Partners enabled us to provide our clients with unique access to major US IPOs.
BCS is planning to partake in other similar transactions over the course of this year, as our US strategy has proven to be efficient and has successfully brought tangible results for our clients.”
