Flotations buoyant in London as IPOs raise over £10bn

FLOTATIONS on the London Stock Exchange rose by more than 500 per cent in 2010, as 89 companies from across the globe raised over £10bn through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the exchange's markets.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Dec 2010, 19:59 BST
Updated 29th Dec 2010, 20:07 BST

The total money raised by IPOs during the year reached 10.1bn, a 573 per cent increase on 2009 when only 1.5bn was raised, with the number of IPOs joining the exchange's markets more than quadrupling from 22 to 89.

Tracey Pierce, director of equity primary markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said: "We have seen a rejuvenation in the IPO market during 2010.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Whilst last year our markets supported a significant amount of fundraising through further issues, 2010 injected some very positive signs of life into the new issues market, including a number of major wins for London."

She added that with high-profile listings from India, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, the London Stock Exchange remains the international market of choice for companies with global ambitions.

"We believe that these new floats are just the beginning of a growing, healthy, long-term pipeline of issuers looking to join our markets," she said.

"As market conditions continue to improve, we are confident many more companies will look to benefit from the unrivalled liquidity and international profile that a listing in London can provide."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In March, four new companies –African Barrick Gold, Metric Property Investments, SuperGroup and CPP Group – joined the main market, raising 900m between them.

In May Essar Energy, one of India's leading private sector power and oil and gas companies, raised 1.3bn, the largest ever Indian IPO in London.

In July, UK companies raised nearly 2bn, with Ocado, Vallar, GCP Infrastructure and Better Capital all joining the main market .

Betfair, the world's largest international online sports betting provider, joined the exchange in October, with a total offer size of 234m.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In November, AZ Electronic Materials became the first non-UK incorporated chemical company to take a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, raising 383m at admission. November also saw three Russian companies – Transcontainer, O'Key and Mail.ru – raise a total of over 1.2bn.

AIM raised a total of 6.3bn, a 12 per cent increase on 2009.

Related topics:London