Aim market enjoys new listings revival
INITIAL public offerings on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) showed tentative signs of a recovery in the first quarter of the year, after listings all but dried up on the junior market during the crisis.
A total of 16 firms joined Aim in the first quarter of 2010, compared to just five in the same period last year.
“These figures are a positive in a difficult environment,” said Richard Thornhill, capital markets director at Deloitte. “While this does not necessarily herald a return to the hotbed of IPO activity we saw in the years gone by, it will certainly encourage management teams to look again at Aim as a source for capital.”
But despite the improved activity, the tide of delistings continues at a steady rate, with a further 51 firms leaving the market over the quarter.
Many smaller firms on the market have taken the decision to delist over the crisis, deterred by the cost of keeping up a listing and the lack of liquidity on Aim as investors shunned risky growth company investments.