British oil and gas company Fairfield Energy has shelved plans for a $500 million stock market listing, the company said on Thursday, after weak markets spooked potential investors, according to Reuters. "In the light of market conditions, (Fairfield) has decided against proceeding with its initial public offering of shares and listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange at this time," the company said in a statement. The company, controlled by private equity companies led by Warburg Pincus, had offered shares at between 220 pence and 420 pence, valuing the firm at up to $1.1 billion. The lack of demand for Fairfield bodes ill for the IPO market as its shares were offered at a discount to the company's peers at the lower end of the range. The range valued the shares at between 0.55 to 0.7 times net asset value (NAV). Rival EnQuest trades at around 0.8 times NAV. The next major British IPO, due next week and likely to be the last before the summer hiatus, is online grocer Ocado which has been criticised by many analysts and fund managers for an aggressive valuation. A spokesperson for Ocado insisted on Thursday the listing is proceeding as planned. "The Ocado team have had a great reception in the United States and are continuing with a busy roadshow schedule during which the management team are meeting a very large number of potential investors," the spokesperson said. Fairfield had aimed to spend the money raised on boosting production from its North Sea oil fields, exploration and possible acquisitions, the company said in earlier statements. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were joint global co-ordinators on the deal. Books closed on the sale at around 4.30 BST on Wednesday afternoon after which the company's board met to decide on how to proceed. "They just weren't prepared to sell it cheap," a source close to the company told Reuters on Thursday. British IPOs have achieved mixed results this year, with investors driving a hard bargain before buying into new listings. Airline ticketing firm Travelport and fashion chain New Look also abandoned flotations this year.
