London's AIM - Secondary Offering Activity - H1 2008

Highlights

• Number of secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange's AIM and aggregate funds raised on London's AIM drop by 30% and 65%, respectively
• £2.2b raised in secondary offerings on London's AIM during H1 2008….165% more than raised in IPOs on London's AIM
• 20% of London AIM-listed companies completed secondary offerings on London's AIM during H1 2008
• Sub-£1m secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange's AIM have largely disappeared with 80% falling between £1m and £10m
• Average size of secondary offerings on London's AIM shrinks from H1 2007 but stabilizes from H2 2007

H1 2007 – £13.88m            H2 2007 – £6.90m                H1 2008 – £6.97m  

•  Outlook:  300 more secondary offerings on London's AIM in H2 2008 raising £2.1b for an average of £7m

The success of the secondary offering market on the London Stock Exchange's AIM is indisputable; however, that success should not be viewed in isolation, but rather through the lens of the broader market for IPOs on the London Stock Exchange's AIM.  The trend which began in 2006, and continued throughout 2007, of a significant number of Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs) and Investment and Real Estate Funds completing IPOs on the London Stock Exchange's AIM has come to an end.  The effect on the London AIM IPO market was dramatic but the effect on the secondary offering on London's AIM market was more modest.

‘Operating companies’ listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM captured 55% of the London AIM IPO funds raised during the first half of 2008 but only 32% during the first half of 2007.  The comparable metrics for secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange's AIM were 77% during the first half of 2008 and 62% during the first half of 2007.

All Companies	London AIM IPO Funds Raised (in £ billions)	London AIM Secondary Offering Funds Raised (in £ billions)
H1 2007	3.33	6.29
H1 2008	0.83	2.20

Exclusive of SPACs and Investment and Real Estate Funds:

‘Operating Companies’	London AIM IPO Funds Raised (in £ billions)	London AIM Secondary Offering Funds Raised (in £ billions)
H1 2007	1.05	3.92
H1 2008	0.46	1.70

The average size of secondary offerings on London's AIM shrunk from H1 2007 but stabilized from H2 2007.

All Companies	Number of London AIM Secondary Offerings	Gross Funds Raised (in £ billions)	Average Funds Raised (in £ millions)
H1 2007	453	6.29	13.88
H2 2007	496	3.42	6.90
H1 2008	315	2.20	6.97

Given current conditions on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, investors are not funding sub-£1 million secondary offerings on London's AIM.  However, London AIM investors have shown strong interest in the £1 to £3 million range which increased on a relative basis from 26% during the first half of 2007 to 59% during the first half of 2008.  80% of all secondary offerings on London's AIM during the first half of 2008 raised between £1 and £10 million.

 

The relative number of companies listed on London's AIM that were able to complete secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange's AIM during the first half of 2008 remains healthy at 20%, however, this does represent a decrease from the two preceding halves.  As noted above, London AIM investors are not funding sub-£1 million secondary offerings on London's AIM. 

 

The outlook for London's AIM the balance of 2008 is similar to the actual results on London's AIM for the first half of 2008; 300 secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange's AIM raising £2.1 billion yielding an average London AIM secondary offering of £7 million.