LSE: IPO market soars in 2017

106 companies have floated on London Stock Exchange markets in 2017 – raising 15 billion GBP, up 63 per cent by number of IPOs and up 164 per cent by value of IPOs compared to 2016.

London Stock Exchange (LSE) said it has surpassed all European exchanges this year by number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) and money raised, ranking second globally by money raised. London’s IPOs have become more international in 2017, with nine of the top ten IPOs by size coming came from outside of the UK. 20 North American companies chose London for their listing with the UK markets remaining attractive to US fund managers.
London has had a strong year for investment vehicle IPOs, with 35 IPOs on London Stock Exchange and 677 per cent more money raised compared to 2016.

49 new companies floated on international growth market AIM and raised 2.1 billion GBP, a 97 per cent increase by money raised compared to 2016. In total, 7.3 billion GBP was raised on AIM in initial and follow-on fundraising this year, an increase of 45 per cent compared to 2016.

London Stock Exchange has also received confirmation from the Financial Conduct Authority of its intention to register AIM as an SME Growth Market, once the status becomes applicable on 3 January, 2018. This follows AIM and AIM Italia providing 69 per cent of all finance to growth companies across EU growth markets in 2017. This supports the Capital Markets Union project in its ambition to unlock EU growth and jobs.

CEO of London Stock Exchange, Nikhil Rathi, said: “Despite the debates about Brexit, London’s highly global, deep and liquid capital markets continue to be the ideal partner for funding the world’s growth. It is particularly significant that the number of international listings in London is up; with North American listings up nearly seven-fold on last year.”