Britain must back its own, says says ALEX BRUMMER
Daily Mail Stock markets are organic and companies come and go all the time. Firms heading to the UK include WE Soda, payments fintech group CAB and AI specialist Palantir, which has chosen to bring its European headquarters to Britain.
Amid this ferment it may seem curious to question the sale of Middle East credit card processor Network International to Canada's buyout firm Brookfield Asset Management in a $2.8billion (2.2billion) deal.
It is the second public-to-private buyout on the London Stock Exchange in just over a week, following the 4.5billion sale of veterinary pharma group Dechra to EQT.
The departure of Network International might appear no big loss, given that most customers are merchants in Africa and the Middle East. These are two of the fastest-growing neighbourhoods in the world and it is just the kind of enterprise which investors in London should be supporting.
It could be argued that it is bringing the magic of fintech to areas where the UK, through Standard Chartered and Barclays DCO, brought Western banking.
