AIM Report 2019

4 5 OPENING STATEMENT REPORT OVERVIEW A WORD FROM THE HEAD OF AIM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS Despite global macroeconomic uncertainty, we have seen strong levels of capital raising on AIM in 2018 and into 2019. Last year, companies raised £5.5 billion via 398 transactions, including 35 IPOs on AIM. The market also continues to be particularly attractive for tech companies, with 12 of London’s 19 tech IPOs in 2018 being on AIM. 24 years on from its launch, AIM continues to be a global success story for Britain as the world’s leading growth market. In the 18 months to June 2019, over 45 new companies have been admitted to AIM, raising £1.7 billion. Not only is this another vote of investor confidence in Britain’s fast-growing businesses but a significant boost for UK Plc. These companies are vital to innovation, job creation and economic growth. Success stories come from a wide variety of sectors. AIM has welcomed names such as restaurant and bar operator Loungers and property website OnTheMarket. They’ve joined cutting edge biotech So, a big thanks to: Dr Dan Appleby, Sam Barton, Stephen Daniels, Natasha Fathers, Jonathan Gain, Jon Marshfield, Chris Murphy, David Neale, Richard Power, Chris Searle, Marcus Stuttard and Henry Whorwood. Their input is invaluable, but needless to say any errors or omissions are down to us. We have relied upon MICAP for most of the data that we have based the report upon. MICAP is part of the same group of companies as Intelligent Partnership. We also carried out our own extensive desk research by examining brochures, investment prospectuses, mystery shopping providers, and trawling through the websites to verify their data. The report is made possible by our sponsors, who have contributed copy to the report and supported us by helping to meet production and printing costs. So, a big thanks to: Blackfinch Investments, Close Brothers Asset Management, Octopus Investments, Stellar Asset Management, TIME Investments and Walker Crips. Learning objectives for CPD Accreditation By the end of the report readers will be able to: Identify the main developments and news in the AIM market in 2019. Understand the relevance to AIM of rule changes to the main tax reliefs. Identify and understand the main changes introduced to the AIM market since 2017. Compare the key metrics of AIM-based tax efficient offers with knowledge of the average statistics including the mean and mode fees and charges currently applied Recognise how the adviser community is currently interacting with AIM and its areas of confidence and concern. Describe the pros and cons of AIM-quoted companies vs. unquoted companies from an investment perspective. Marcus Stuttard Head of AIM, London Stock Exchange We couldn’t do this without the help and support of a number of third parties who have contributed to writing this report. Their contributions range from inputting into the scope, sharing data, giving us their insights on the market, providing copy, and peer reviewing drafts. and tech businesses such as Polarean Imaging, Codemasters and Team 17 in raising high quality, long-term equity capital in London. In the last 18 months, companies from the tech, finance and real estate sectors have raised the most capital on AIM while the most active sectors in terms of number of transactions – including both IPO and follow-on capital raisings - have been the mining, tech and oil & gas sectors. Statistics like these reinforce the value of AIM not only as a vibrant IPO market but also a vital source of long-term capital to enable existing businesses access further funding to support their ongoing growth. In the first six months of 2019 over £2 billion has been raised in follow-on fundraising by existing issuers, the highest amount since the first half of 2015. London Stock Exchange Group is committed to facilitating access to patient equity capital for innovative businesses across all stages of their development. We work with capital providers and policy makers across the equity funding ecosystem, and in addition to AIM we support the growth of ambitious private companies through ELITE, our international business support and capital raising programme for ambitious and fast-growing companies. We look forward to the second half of 2019 and beyond with confidence and enthusiasm. The AIM pipeline continues to be robust and our mission remains constant: to support a diverse set of companies and investors to ensure the next generation of entrepreneurs have access to the patient equity capital they need to innovate and grow their businesses, supporting the economy and creating the jobs of the future. These companies are vital to innovation, job creation and economic growth.