An Exchange survey of the 80 international companies that conducted an IPO on its markets has revealed that, for more than three quarters of respondents (77 per cent), access to capital was the principal reason for their decision to go public. 89 per cent of the companies surveyed said they were satisfied with the price they achieved on flotation.
According to the survey, 27 per cent of respondents identified London’s liquid international trading market as the most important factor in their company’s decision to float on the Exchange’s markets. This was closely followed by the UK’s standards of regulation and corporate governance (25 per cent), analyst coverage (25 per cent) and access to emerging market institutional investors (23 per cent).
Of those companies that considered listing on an US exchange, 90 per cent felt that the demands of Sarbanes Oxley made listing in London more attractive. More than half of the international companies appointed a UK based non-executive director in preparation for their London listing.
Martin Graham, the Exchange’s Director of Market Services and Head of AIM, said:
“The results of the survey demonstrate that world-class international companies select a London listing to access our deep pool of international capital and to be part of one of the world’s most liquid international trading markets.”
He added:
“This has been a record year for international new issues on AIM and the Main Market. As the world’s capital market, we look forward to welcoming many more international companies to our markets in 2006.”
2005 Primary Market Highlights
Main Market
- A total of 98 companies joined the Main Market in 2005, of which 77 were IPOs, raising a total of £9.8 billion in new issues.
- The Main Market enjoyed the highest number of IPOs since 2000.
- AIM, for the second year in succession, had its most successful year since its launch in 1995, both in terms of total money raised and number of new issues.
- 494 companies joined AIM in 2005, 318 of which were IPOs, raising a total of £5.98 billion in new issues.
- There were 2,214 further issues on the Exchange’s markets in 2005, raising a combined total of £10.4 billion.
