Cabot Credit Management latest victim of London IPO market, Bakkavor trades up

By Emma Rumney

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest debt collector Cabot Credit Management (IPO-CAB.L) abandoned its plan on Thursday for an initial public offering (IPO), the latest in a string of companies to ditch attempts to list on the London Stock Exchange.

So far in 2017 British IPOs have raised 5.2 billion dollars (£3.9 billion), down 13 percent on the same period a year ago.

The IPO market has been muted since the country voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, making firms skittish about market launches.

Ready meals firm Bakkavor Group (BAKK.L), which this month pulled but then resurrected its market debut plan, was trading up 5 percent at 189 pence by 1527 GMT. The British supermarket supplier cut the asking price for its shares before reviving its IPO move.

Cabot blamed its decision on current conditions in the IPO and credit market, and it follows reports that the firm had struggled to generate sufficient orders for shares within the price range.

"The high level of engagement and interest that we received from a wide array of investors was very encouraging, but the timing has been unfortunate with respect to IPO market conditions," said Ken Stannard, the firm's CEO.

The IPO, originally planned for September, had already been postponed as Peter Crook, the former chief of Provident Financial (PFG.L), stepped down from the board.

In October, it said the transaction would go ahead this month, with a source familiar with the matter telling Reuters it was targeting a 1 billion-pound market capitalisation.

At the start of the month broadcast and mobile masts company Arqiva abandoned its attempt to list, citing uncertainty in the IPO market.

Business services firm TMF scrapped its float last month in favour of an outright sale to a private equity firm.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Jefferies and Numis (NUM.L) were all managing the Cabot float.

(Reporting by Hanna Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Hugh Lawson)