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A company that wants to turn London’s Second World War underground tunnels into a major tourist attraction is to list in Amsterdam, in the latest blow to the City.
London Tunnels confirmed yesterday that it had abandoned its plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in favor of the Euronext exchange.
The Mail on Sunday revealed that the U-turn would come after the company appointed Dutch investment bank ABN Amro to manage the listing.
The snub comes as the stock market faces an exodus of companies and a shortage of listings.
Tunnel vision: London Tunnels wants to turn London’s WWII underground tunnels into a tourist attraction to rival the London Eye
London Tunnels chief executive Angus Murray said a listing on Euronext is “in the best long-term interests of the company, its shareholders and future ambitions for development”.
It signaled a change in tone after Murray previously said he “should list in London” when announcing plans to list in the City in January.
The company plans to turn the capital’s Second World War tunnels into an attraction to rival the London Eye, and says it aims to welcome up to 3 million visitors a year.
He wants to open the Kingsway Exchange tunnels in central London to tourists in 2027.
The mile-long network of tunnels was built beneath Chancery Lane tube station in the early 1940s as a shelter large enough to protect 8,000 Londoners from German bombs during the Blitz.
During the war, it was used as offices for the London Civil Defense Region and the Ministry of Works.
The network was later used by Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive, the forerunner of the MI6 intelligence service.
The tunnels are believed to have been the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s description of ‘Q-Branch’ in his James Bond novels.
Later, after expansion, the underground site was used as a secure government communications center.
After the war, the tunnels were transferred to the General Post Office in 1949 and in 1956 became the termination point of the first transatlantic telephone cable.
Ownership of the site was transferred to BT and for many years it housed telephone switches and equipment.
London Tunnels has received planning approval for the project from the City of London Corporation and is awaiting a decision from Camden Council, which is expected in September.
The shares will begin trading on Thursday under the symbol ‘TLT’, and The London Tunnels forecasts a market capitalization of £130m.
The company plans to raise up to £30m through the listing and has already received commitments from 15 investors for almost £25m.
The company said it will need to raise additional funding of around £120 million between 2025 and 2027 to complete the project.
Murray said: “We believe the public listing of The London Tunnels is the next logical step, enhancing our ability to raise further capital over the coming years to support the company’s growth strategy and create long-term value.”
He added: “London tunnels can now leverage the size and scale of both Europe’s equity capital markets and debt capital markets.”
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