AIM sees biggest growth since 2007 amid IPO boom

AIM now has a market cap of around £150bn, up from £85bn five years ago, with a total of 852 companies listed

London’s Alternatives Investment Marketplace (AIM) saw its biggest growth since 2007.

Last year 66 companies floated on the marketplace in the best year for IPOs since 2014, according to data analysed by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young. AIM now has a market cap of around £150bn, up from £85bn five years ago, with a total of 852 companies listed.

2021 was a strong year for AIM, with the level of capital raising the highest since 2007, said Marcus Stuttard, head of UK primary markets and AIM at the London Stock Exchange.

Stuttard commented on the ‘broad range of companies from the UK and internationally’ joining the market 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, Stuttard said, adding that AIM is looks forward to continuing to build on this momentum in 2022.

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

Both the volume and size of the companies admitted to London’s junior marketplace increased in 2021 with two of the top 10 largest ever IPOs admitted joining last year. Life Science REIT raised £350m in its October listing while Revolution Beauty raised £300m.

This bumper year for the AIM market has solidified its status as a prime fundraising platform for growing businesses. There is clearly an enormous appetite among investors for AIM listed entities, said Daniel Hutson, partner and head of audit at UHY Hacker Young.