The RAC has paused a London float that had been expected to value the breakdown group at around £5bn, with Silver Lake and Singapore's GIC in advanced talks to sell their holdings to CVC Capital Partners and other investors in a private deal that would delay any listing by at least 18 months.
The West Midlands-based motoring services group, founded as the Royal Automobile Club in 1897, had been one of the London Stock Exchange's most anticipated candidates for a large flotation. Preliminary meetings with prospective investors and fund managers in March had fuelled expectations of a listing at roughly £5bn.
Instead the shareholders are restructuring the register privately. CVC, which has held a position in the RAC since 2015 when it bought out the stake owned by rival buyout firm Carlyle, would remain a major investor. Silver Lake, the American technology-focused private equity firm, and GIC, the Singaporean state investment fund, are in advanced talks to sell their stakes to CVC and other incoming investors, City AM reported. The talks were first reported by Sky News.
Neither the price of those secondary stake sales nor the post-deal ownership split has been disclosed. Completion would push the IPO back by at least 18 months and, on the current understanding, probably longer.
The recapitalisation is being negotiated against improving trading. In results published last month covering the six months to June, the RAC reported revenue up 6% to £463m and pre-tax profit up by a fifth to £76m. Memberships rose 6% to 15.9m. The company pointed to expanded margins, reduced leverage and what it called a 15th consecutive year of earnings growth.
For the London market the decision lands badly. The exchange has recorded just seven listings so far this year, raising a combined £557m — a total smaller than several individual private rounds completed by UK companies over the same period. Last year's listings drought was broken only by a late run of floats including Shawbrook and Princes Group.
The pattern the RAC illustrates is now familiar: a mature, cash-generative British asset with a credible public-market story choosing a private ownership transfer over a listing, with existing sponsors recycling capital between themselves and overseas funds rather than selling into public hands.
The RAC declined to comment on the ownership talks beyond its trading statement, which said the group entered the second half of 2026 with strong momentum. CVC, Silver Lake and GIC have not confirmed the discussions, and no completion timetable has been set out.
Original source: City AM — https://www.cityam.com/rac-slams-brakes-on-blockbuster-london-ipo/
