Eating the sundae: the continued exodus from the LSE

Takeovers have been a frequent theme of our daily reports, and are an ongoing source of return for investors in the UK market.
However, I can’t be the only one - and judging by our comments sections, I’m not - who is concerned about what this means for the long-term health of the LSE. Judge for yourself, but it seems to me that the companies being targeted for acquisition tend to be of higher-than-average quality, and in some cases they are being snapped up at rather underwhelming takeover premiums. And they certainly aren't being replaced by IPOs of a similar quality, as there have been hardly been any IPOs for years. In fact, IPO fundraising has hit a thirty-year low.

Source: dealogic via CNBC
This personally impacted my portfolio recently when International Personal Finance (LON:IPF) (I still hold) announced a recommended offer from a US investor. The premium against the prevailing share price was only c. 24.9%.
I acknowledge that this is very much a first world problem, but IPF is a stock that I intended to hold for the long-term, and I was excited about what the company might achieve...