Admiral Acquisition is another company leaving the London Stock Exchange after a deal worth £1.48 billion

Admiral Acquisition is the latest company to announce it will leave the London Stock Exchange and move to New York after purchasing US engineering firm Acuren for $1.85 billion (£1.48 billion).

The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), created by investors for the sole purpose of buying out a privately held company, was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May last year but has said it intends to move to the New York Stock Exchange in the coming months.

Last year, Admiral raised $550 million in an initial public offering (IPO) at a time when blank check companies were declining in popularity.

Sir Martin Franklin, the company’s principal founder, is known as a SPAC pioneer; launched several others, including J2 Acquisition, which raised $1.25 billion (£980 million) in a London initial public offering in 2017.

Admiral’s move is the latest in a string of foreign companies moving their listings overseas, with estimates showing the LSE has shrunk by around 25 per cent over the past decade.

In recent months, companies including TUI, Superdry and Flutter have revealed plans to delist from the stock exchange, with the CEO of oil and gas giant Shell also hinting that such a move may be on the cards.

Acuren, which provides business-critical, regulatory-required non-destructive testing, inspection, engineering and laboratory testing services across a variety of industries, currently employs more than 5,500 people in the US and UK.

Talman Pizzey, CEO of Acuren, said: “American Securities is an excellent partner for Acuren.

“We look forward to working with the Admiral team to support the next phase of Acuren’s development as a public company.

“The Admiral team’s successful track record of creating shareholder value while providing great jobs for employees across a range of businesses, particularly in the industrial services sector, aligns well with our long-term growth goals.

“Our commitment to providing our customers with best-in-class service remains unwavering.”