MHA to target retail investors in £350m London Stock Exchange IPO
Accountancy firm MHA is set to launch an IPO on London’s junior stock market AIM targeting a £350m valuation tomorrow, including a plan to bring in £6m from British retail investors.
The UK arm of Baker Tilly is aiming to raise up to £125m from the float in the coming weeks, according to documents seen by Morning Wire.
“Announcing our intention to float on AIM marks an exciting milestone for MHA and our people – one that we believe will be best suited to the London market,” said MHA group chair Rakesh Shaunak in the documents.
“An IPO would represent the next stage in our evolution, creating a platform for further expansion while preserving the values and approach that have underpinned our success to date.”
Capital raising platform Bookbuild will be used by MHA to bring in up to £6m from retail investors, with further details to be made in due course.
The planned float is set to offer a boost to the beleaguered London Stock Exchange, which has struggled with a continuous drop-off in new listings and big names seeking better returns overseas.
Last year, London’s bourse fell to 35th among stock exchanges worldwide on money raised through IPOs, bringing in just 0.53 per cent of global capital.
AIM has been particularly impacted, with the number of firms floating on the stock exchange falling to just 10 over the last year, the lowest level since the global financial crisis.
There are currently just 679 AIM-listed firms, compared to the market’s peak of 1,694 in 2007.
MHA’s planned London IPO
MHA is the 13th largest accountancy business in the UK by revenue, and grew at the joint-fastest rate last year among the top 20 firms.
In the year to last March, the firm made £154m, up from £113m the year before. It plans to break into the top 10 accountancy firms by targeting annual revenues of above £500m.
MHA has been buying up other accountancy firms in its bid for growth, including purchasing Moore and Smalley last April, which added 400 employees to the group.
The firm said it planned to use the capital raised from its London IPO to make further acquisitions, as well as investing in its technology and hiring new recruits.
Last month, The Times reported that MHA had hired advisers from investment bank Cavendish to consult on the potential float.
“The feedback from potential investors has been positive over the last few weeks underlining that this is an exciting move for our firm and our people and we believe a welcome one for the London market,” said an MHA spokesperson.