Record Amount Raised On AIM

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

24 August 2007

According to research compiled by Deloitte, the business advisory firm, the total amount raised in Q2 from companies on AIM was the highest ever in the history of the market.

Deloitte's research found that GBP7bn (US$14bn) was raised compared with the previous record of GBP5.3bn, which was achieved in both Q2 and Q4 in 2006. Of this total, there were record secondary fundraisings on AIM in Q2 - GBP4.6bn raised compared with the previous record of GBP2.4bn in Q2 2006. At the end of June 2007, 1,656 companies had listed on AIM over the 12 month period; this consisted of 1,337 UK companies and 319 international organisations.

James Ferguson, Capital Markets partner at Deloitte, observed that: “AIM is now a well established international market with over 1,600 companies listed. These findings indicate that, contrary to the bad press that a number of AIM companies have received over the last year, there are many established AIM companies coming back to the market and persuading investors to put more money into them. The number of companies listed on AIM is smaller, 84 in Q2 compared to 108 in the same period last year, indicating bigger companies are now coming to market.”

Delek Global Real Estate was the largest company coming to market, with a market capitalisation of GBP519m on flotation.

After a long period where international companies were the main contributors to growth in the market, the market capitalisation of new UK based admissions in the quarter was actually higher than the same period last year (GBP4.4bn compared to GBP3.8bn in Q2 2006).

June 2007 was the highest ever month for funds raised, with GBP3.1bn raised compared with the previous record of GBP2.49bn in December 2006.

The AIM All share index was up 17% in the half year to 30 June 2007 (the All Share has dropped by around 14% to the beginning of August, in line with the downturn of other worldwide markets).

Ferguson added: “In the first half of 2007, we have seen larger companies on the market maturing and successfully sourcing capital when required. The increase in the AIM All Share index in the first half is another indication of the strength and growth of AIM. It will be interesting to revisit these metrics at the end of quarter three to see the impact the recent turmoil in global stock markets has had on AIM.”

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