IRISL reportedly seeking London Stock Exchange listing

Iran's top cargo shipping company has apparently been thwarted in its attempts to list on the exchange due to US sanctions that still scare banks off Iranian business, according to a report from Reuters.

If talks were to turnaround and the organisation listed, it would be the first Iranian company to list on Britain's main exchange since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

IRISL was officially removed from the international sanctions blacklist last year, and has ambitions to modernise its fleet, the report said.

It has already placed an order for new ships estimated to be worth $626m.

Four Iranian officials and two Western financial sources told Reuters the Iranian company had expressed interest in an LSE listing. Two of the Iranian sources, both senior officials in Tehran, said meetings had already been held with the LSE in London about a possible float for IRISL.

In an email to the news agency, a source at IRISL denied any measures had been taken for a possible listing on the London Stock Exchange. The LSE declined to comment.

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