AIM has proved more attractive than the main market to UK firms looking to float last quarter, according to research from Ernst & Young. M&A’s Paul Driscoll reports

 

The findings showed that London attracted 18 listing in the three months to July, raising £3.2 billion. Of those only six were UK companies, raising £94.7 million on AIM with none on the main market. In the same period last year 60 listings in London raised $18.5 billion.

 

Emerging markets drove initial public offering (IPO) activity in the second quarter with China including Hong Kong on top with £3.1 billion from 56 IPOs. The report revealed that seven of the top 10 and 15 of the top 20 IPOs by capital raised were from emerging markets.

 

Four countries accounted for half of the capital raised globally: China (£3.1 billion); Brazil (£2.3 billion); United States (£2.2 billion); and Saudi Arabia £1.7 billion. The most active countries in terms of volume were China (56); Poland (21); and Australia, South Korea and India (17).

 

David Wilkinson, IPO leader at Ernst & Young said: “Although the LSE ranked top amongst exchanges worldwide in the amount of capital raised it was still a tough quarter for London in terms of number of transactions and value, especially if you compare it to the same quarter in 2007. Other leading European exchanges had an equally difficult time attracting new issues. Investors are highly selective and valuations are well down, companies are still considering IPO, but economic uncertainty continues to make businesses stall in expectation of an improvement in values.”