AIM Celebrates Its Fifth Birthday As Total Money Raised Hits £4.9 Billion

Close to £5 billion has been raised by AIM companies in the five years since the London Stock Exchange launched its market for small, young and growing businesses, on 19 June 1995. Launched with ten companies, AIM has seen rapid growth and now has 422 members. In total, more than 570 companies have been admitted to AIM since its launch and 72 of those have transferred to the main market including 23 that are now in techMARK.

The market capitalisation of AIM has increased more than 150 times since its launch - from £82.2 million to £14.1 billion - and a total of £4.9 billion has been raised by companies. In 1999, the AIM index saw outstanding growth as it increased by 141%, making it the best performing UK index of the year.

AIM was launched with companies from seven different business areas. Today, AIM companies come from 30 sectors including Health, Information Technology, Transport, Electricity and Restaurants, Pubs & Breweries. The most dominant sector is Software and Computer Services which contains 47 companies with a total market capitalisation of £2.6 billion.

Commenting on AIM's success, Chief Operating Officer for AIM Theresa Wallis said: "I am delighted with the outstanding growth AIM has seen since its launch. AIM is specifically tailored to help fledgling companies raise capital, have their shares traded on a public market and generally raise their public profile. Their experience on AIM is often a first step to a full listing on the main market. It offers easier entry criteria and a regulatory regime designed for the needs of smaller and growing companies. Throughout the last five years these benefits have allowed fledgling companies to develop and expand making AIM a dynamic and important growth market".