PLUS is attracting continued growth in new admissions to the PLUS-quoted market in spite of the most challenging fund-raising conditions for many years. As at the end of September this year, 34 new companies had joined the PLUS-quoted market with a number of new applications still in the pipeline. The PLUS-quoted market is now the only UK growth market where net market growth - new admissions less withdrawals - remains positive.
Fundraising and M&A activity on the PLUS-quoted market continued to grow with over £54 million raised during the year to end-September 2008. Ten PLUS-quoted companies accessed the market for secondary fundraisings during the month. Of these, Keycom raised over £4 million to fund its purchase of MCW Group Limited and Mediaforce LLP.
One new admission for the month was Scancell Holdings which has a market cap of £6.38 million. Scancell develops a pipeline of cancer vaccines based on its patented ImmunoBodyTM platform.
PLUS has also increased its PLUS Corporate Adviser community with the arrival of Chatsford Corporate Finance Limited, a city-based independent corporate finance and investment advisory firm focused on small and mid-caps, and backed by a highly experienced team.
“We continue to see admissions, fundraisings and M&A activity on the PLUS-quoted market. The appeal of PLUS is clear, even in difficult economic conditions as demonstrated by continuing activity and a strong pipeline. As bank funding in the current economic environment is increasingly difficult to access, small and mid-cap companies are finding PLUS a useful venue for equity finance,” said Paul Haddock, Head of Capital Markets.
