Monday 21 February 2022 6:00 am | Updated: Sunday 20 February 2022 5:23 pm

AIM dominates European growth markets contributing half of 2021 funding

The UK’s Alternative Investments Marketplace (AIM) dominated junior European markets in 2021, accounting for half of all fundraising.

London’s AIM raised £9.5bn through IPOs and secondary listings last year, some 53 per cent of the European total which stood at £18bn. Last year AIM attracted bumper fundraisers with Life Science REIT raising £350m in its October listing while Revolution Beauty raised £300m.

“We are delivering on our roadmap for keeping the City at the top table now we have left the EU by making it more open, more competitive, more technologically advanced, and more sustainable,” a spokesperson for HM Treasury told Morning Wire.

“This includes reforming our listings regime to encourage more companies to list on UK markets, ensuring we are world leaders in green finance, facilitating the adoption of new technology in wholesale markets, and reforming the regulatory framework to encourage international competitiveness,” the spokesperson added.

AIM’s closest competitor was the First North Stockholm exchange, which raised just £5.3bn in 2021, according to the data. Trailing behind the Paris Alternext market raised just five per cent of the European total with £827m, and the Borsa Italiana raised £740m, some four per cent of the European total.

Established in 1995, AIM is a specialised division of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) catering to smaller, more risky companies. It has been a launchpad many of the UK’s most successful tech businesses including major fashion brand Boohoo and AI software company Blue Prism.

AIM’s growing reputation has attracted increasing numbers of institutional investors to the market helping to increase its liquidity. The average value of daily trading in AIM shares jumped 47 per cent last year to over £480,000, up from around £329,000 a year prior. The market grew by 33 companies in 2021, its biggest increase since 2007, taking its market cap to £150bn.

Marcus Stuttard, head of UK primary markets at the London Stock Exchange praised the market’s ability to lure companies from an array of sectors, including tech, healthcare and sustainability in 2021.

“This diversity really demonstrates the role AIM plays in the funding continuum for growth companies and is one of the reasons why AIM continues to be the leading European growth market for capital raising,” said Stuttard. “We look forward to continuing to build on this momentum in 2022, and to further developments in the regulatory landscape to ensure London continues to be a compelling capital raising venue.”