Hybrid law firm and funds adviser MJ Hudson targeting December float
Hybrid law firm and fund adviser MJ Hudson is lining up a mid-December listing on London’s junior market.
The firm has appointed broker Cenkos Securities to advise on the float and has issued a schedule one document as a first stage in the listing process.
The firm was founded by former SJ Berwin private equity partner Matthew Hudson in 2010.
MJ Hudson aims to provide legal services to asset managers and institutional investors, as well as providing fund management and administration services, and investment advice.
Read more: DWF boss on the firm’s post-float fortunes
If the firm does float it will be the second law firm to list in London this year, following DWF’s main market initial public offering (IPO) in March.
According to the accounts for MJ Hudson Limited for the year to 30 June, the company’s revenue was £9.3m in the last financial year with pre-tax profit of £481,854.
MJ Hudson has not yet said how much money it is looking to raise in its Aim float.
Only a handful of UK law firms have floated since the Legal Services Act 2007 allowed non-lawyer ownership of law firms.
Gateley was the first UK firm to go public in 2015. It has since been joined by Gordon Dadds (now the Ince Group), Knights, Keystone Law, Rosenblatt and DWF.
Read more: London’s junior stock market sees fewest IPOs in 10 years in first quarter
One broker said: “This is a difficult market, if they get it away that is a pretty good job and it would show the resilience of the sector.”
The AIM market has struggled with a lack of floats this year as macroeconomic woes and political uncertainty hit confidence.
According to figures from October, Aim is on track for the lowest number of IPOs in its history in 2019. Only 20 companies have floated so far compared to 65 last year and a high of 519 in 2005, according to LSE figures.
MJ Hudson was contacted for comment.