Oxford Nanopore has a lot of explaining to do | Business

It’s not just one of the more exciting technology businesses in Britain. It’s also one of the longest awaited flotations in stock market history. The first story claiming that Oxford Nanopore was gearing up for an initial public offering was written in 2012.

There was a rash of speculation again in 2019, though this may have been more about Neil Woodford’s agonies than anything else. Under ludicrously lax rules, funds are allowed to count the unlisted companies they own as “listed” so long as they plan to float in the next 12 months.

The story may have helped Woodford justify categorising his Nanopore stake as listed and so enabled him to claim he was meeting liquidity rules. If that’s correct (and it was never denied),