IPOs
Deal volume
The London IPO market remained suppressed in 2024 with only 17 IPOs completing on the main stock exchange (down 26% from 23 in 2023), making 2024 the quietest year on record.
“It’s very easy for the doom mongers to focus on flows out of UK-only Funds. Whisper it quietly but the 5 years prior to 2021, a year in which the market was very active on IPOs, were all years of cash outflows for UK-only focused Funds. In addition, completed take private activity injecting cash into the market was multiple times the size of the UK-only focused fund outflows, in 2024, as it was in 2023.”
Main Market IPOs
Seven IPOs completed on the Main Market, down by 50% from 2023. Five completed before the significant listing regime reforms took effect on 29 July 2024 including the largest IPO of the year by value, Raspberry Pi Holdings (£745m).
Two companies completed IPOs after the introduction of the reforms: Fairview International and Applied Nutrition, the latter being the first company to list on the new equity shares (commercial companies) category. There were two significant introductions in 2024: Canal+ SA and CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (valued at £2.6bn and £14.2bn respectively). The latter was the first company to list on the new equity shares (international commercial companies secondary listing) category.
In addition, two companies transferred their listing from AIM to the Main Market in 2024, both to the commercial companies listing category: Atalaya Mining (valued at £620m) and Alpha Group International (£934m).
AIM IPOs
AIM saw a small uptick in IPOs in 2024, ten completed in the year compared to nine in 2023 (up 11%).
In addition, 2024 saw one introduction by Optima Health (the largest AIM listing by value at £186m) and four transfers from the Main Market. The largest Main Market to AIM transfer, AdvancedADVT Ltd, was valued at £110m on its admission to AIM.
“We were delighted to have acted for Arm Holdings plc on their strategic investment in Raspberry Pi Ltd in 2023 and to then act for Arm on their follow through investment into the IPO of Raspberry Pi Holdings plc. This IPO was a classic example of the importance of cornerstone investors in supporting companies coming to market and our experience of the past 12 months on both the Main Market and AIM is that it is key to develop a supportive investor base prior to listing, who will follow through on the IPO itself.”
“A secondary listing in the UK appealed to Hong Kong’s CK Infrastructure Holdings as it sought to diversify its international investor base. The new ‘secondary’ listing category ensures that the UK listing regime remains flexible and accessible to non-UK incorporated companies who already have at least one other equity listing on another market. By having this separate category, the FCA sought to provide transparency that such issuers are subject to a combination of home jurisdiction and FCA rules. We have received a number of enquiries from listed companies in the Far East who are keen to understand more about the UK’s new category for secondary listings.”
“Increased liquidity as a result of a move to the Main Market and FTSE 250 index inclusion still makes the move to the commercial companies segment of the Main Market attractive for larger AIM companies.”
Market capitalisation on admission
Main Market
The aggregate market capitalisation of companies completing Main Market IPOs was £1,316m, a fall of 35% from £2,010m in 2023.
Although the aggregate market capitalisation was down, larger companies on average came to the market in 2024: the average value of a company completing a Main Market IPO rose to £188m compared to £155m in 2023 (an increase of 21%). This also reflected the increased minimum market capitalisation (MMC) requirements in the listing rules for commercial companies seeking a listing on the Official List which now stands at £30m.
As observed in previous years, 2024 saw higher valued companies admitted to listing by way of introduction and transfer from AIM and the aggregate market capitalisation of all companies listing on the Main Market in 2024 (IPOs, introductions and transfers from AIM) was £19.96bn, compared to £8.22bn in 2023.
Statistics on market capitalisation exclude overseas companies listing GDRs
|
Top three Main Market IPOs in 2024 in terms of market capitalisation (excluding GDR issuers): |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Listing Category |
Market capitalisation |
Gross proceeds raised |
Industry sector |
|
Raspberry Pi Holdings plc |
Commercial companies |
£745m |
£31m for the company and £135m for selling shareholders |
Technology |
|
Applied Nutrition plc |
Commercial companies |
£360m |
£158m for selling shareholders |
Food & Beverages |
|
Aberforth Geared Value & Income Trust plc |
Closed-ended investments |
£144m |
£15m for the company |
Investment |
In 2023 the highest valued company to complete a Main Market IPO was CAB Payments Holdings, valued at £851m on admission, although the value subsequently dropped dramatically following a profit warning.
Market capitalisation on admission
AIM
Despite only a modest increase in deal volumes on AIM, the aggregate value of companies completing an IPO on the market was almost triple the aggregate for 2023 (2024: £425m; 2023: £151m). The average value of a company completing an AIM IPO was £43m, an increase of over 150% compared to £17m in 2023.
The largest AIM IPO of the year by value was AOTI Inc, a US medical technology group, with an opening market capitalisation of £144m. This was the highest valued AIM IPO since the 2021 Victorian Plumbing Group IPO (almost £1bn on admission).
A US-incorporated company was also the top valued IPO on AIM in 2023: Fadel Partners Inc, a developer of cloud-based brand compliance and rights and royalty management software, achieved an opening market capitalisation of £29m on admission.
|
Top three AIM IPOs in 2024 in terms of market capitalisation: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Market capitalisation |
Gross proceeds raised |
Industry sector |
|
AOTI Inc |
£144m |
£35m |
Healthcare |
|
Winking Studios Ltd |
£71m |
£8m |
Technology |
|
Rosebank Industries plc |
£63m |
£50m |
Investment |
Gross proceeds raised by the company
Main Market
Total proceeds raised by the company in Main Market IPOs has continued to decline over the last five years. 2024 saw only £150m raised, down 76% from £618m in 2023. As with deal volumes and aggregate market capitalisation, funds raised in 2024 were the lowest for any year in the last five year period and a fraction of the recent high seen in 2020.
Average funds raised per Main Market IPO stood at £21m, around half the average for 2023 (£44m).
The highest grossing Main Market IPO was the GDR offering by Air Astana JSC which raised £95m for the company (and £196m for selling shareholders). In 2023, the Admiral Acquisition Ltd SPAC IPO raised the most funds (£435m).
Aggregate gross proceeds looks at gross proceeds raised by the company and not selling shareholders (unless otherwise indicated)
|
The top Main Market IPOs in 2024 in terms of funds raised by the company were: |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Listing category |
Gross proceeds raised |
Market capitalisation on admission |
Industry sector |
|
Air Astana JSC |
Certificates representing certain securities (depositary receipts) |
£95m for the company; £196m for selling shareholders |
- |
Travel |
|
Raspberry Pi Holdings plc |
Commercial companies |
£31m for the company; £135m for selling shareholders |
£745m |
Technology |
|
Aberforth Geared Value & Income Trust plc |
Closed-ended investment funds |
£15m |
£144m |
Financial Services |
Gross proceeds raised by the company
AIM
While AIM IPO deal volumes were at a similar level to 2023, funds raised far exceeded the previous year. £122m was raised in 2024 up 165% from the £46m raised in 2023.
The average amount raised per AIM IPO was also up at £12m compared to £5m in 2023 (an increase of 140%).
The largest IPO fundraise on AIM in 2024 was by Rosebank Industries plc, a SPAC, which raised £50m. In 2023, it was the £13m placing by Onward Opportunities plc.
|
The top AIM IPOs in 2024 in terms of gross proceeds raised were: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Gross proceeds raised |
Market capitalisation on admission |
Industry sector |
|
Rosebank Industries plc |
£50m |
£63m |
Investment |
|
Aoti, Inc |
£20m for the company; £16m for selling shareholders |
£144m |
Healthcare |
|
Amcomri Group plc |
£12m |
£41m |
Industrials |
Main Market IPOs listing category analysis (at year end)
The chart shows the listing categories (at the end of 2024) of companies which completed a Main Market IPO in 2024. Applied Nutrition was the first company to complete an IPO on the new equity shares (commercial companies) category.
Companies in the former premium and standard listing segments were mapped to the new listing categories on the date of implementation of the reforms with those previously listed on the premium segment being mapped to the equity shares (commercial companies) category or the equity shares (closed ended investment fund) category (as appropriate).
Companies in the standard listing segment were, in most cases, mapped to the equity shares (transition) category, equity shares (shell companies) category or the equity shares (overseas commercial companies secondary listing) category.
“The relaxation of the eligibility requirements means that a number of companies which were not eligible for a Premium Listing as they had a dual class share structure or did not control their business can now have a commercial companies listing and be index eligible. This has resulted in a number of such companies changing listing category.”
Transfer of listing category: transition to commercial companies
Companies in the transition category can apply to transfer to the commercial companies category using a modified transfer process (provided, among other things, that their shares have been admitted to the Official List for at least 18 months) and several companies have already made the transfer since the implementation of the reforms, including:
- Oxford Nanopore Technologies
- Deliveroo
- THG
- Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
- Ecora Resources
The first three companies listed above, were not eligible for a former premium listing at the time of their IPO, due to the companies having a dual class share structure with a class of shares having weighted voting rights.
The new UK Listing Rules allow companies listed in the commercial companies category to have multiple class share structures which allow certain shareholders to hold shares with enhanced voting rights (subject to some restrictions).
For more information on the listing regime reforms see ‘Legal and regulatory developments’ section of this report.
Fundraising structure
Main Market IPOs
The commercial companies undertaking equity IPOs in 2024 (Raspberry Pi, Applied Nutrition and Fairview International) all undertook institutional placings. For Raspberry Pi and Applied Nutrition, the placings were underwritten and both had cornerstone investors. ARM Holdings, as cornerstone investor in Raspberry Pi, invested US $35m which resulted in an 8.4% shareholding post-IPO. Cornerstone investors in the Applied Nutrition IPO invested £25m in total.
Both Raspberry Pi and Applied Nutrition included a retail offer through intermediaries (via Peel Hunt’s REX portal and RetailBook respectively) in their fundraisings. The size of the retail offer was around 4% of the total fundraise for Raspberry Pi and 14% for Applied Nutrition.
The three investment vehicles completing IPOs (Fuel Ventures VCT, Praetura Growth VCT and Aberforth Geared Value & Income Trust) undertook offers for subscription with Aberforth Geared Value & Income Trust combining the offer for subscription with an institutional placing.
In 2023 and 2022, the commercial companies completing IPOs on the former premium listing segment (CAB Payments and Ithaca Energy) both undertook an underwritten institutional placing with CAB Payments also including an intermediaries offer using Peel Hunt’s REX portal in its fundraise.
AIM IPOs
The main fundraising element of all ten AIM IPOs in 2024 was an institutional placing with no underwriting (as was also the case in 2023 and 2022). One company (European Green Transition) included a small retail offer through intermediaries via the BookBuild platform in conjunction with its placing. In each of 2023 and 2022, two AIM IPOs included retail offers using either PrimaryBid or BookBuild.
“We are seeing increasing use of the Bookbuild platform as a means of opening up both IPOs (as in these examples) and more often secondary fundraisings, to retail investors. The Bookbuild model is popular with the broking community as it sits between the brokers running the fundraising and the retail brokers, it is very simple to sign up to and there is minimal dilution to their commissions.
We more regularly see the use of these retail platforms on fundraisings these days than open offers and we expect this to continue.
Our own experience is clearly borne out by the research as per the stats on the use of retail platforms in the section headed “placings” in the chapter on secondary offers."
Industry sector
Main Market
“London has always been a hub for financial services and innovation in that sector in recent years has given rise to a number of disruptive and ambitious British fintech companies. We see fintech as a key sector contributing to the revival of London IPOs.”
Investment
The Investment sector saw the most Main Market IPO activity in 2024, as has been the case for the previous four years. Three investment sector IPOs accounted for 43% of all Main Market IPOs and together raised 14% of all funds raised for the company that year.
In 2023, six Investment sector IPOs also accounted for 43% of all Main Market IPOs and raised 76% of all funds raised (primarily down to one large SPAC IPO which raised £453m).
Technology
In 2024 the Technology sector was represented by Raspberry Pi, the largest IPO by value in the year which raised £31m for the company (and £135m for selling shareholders). The previous year had seen one small IPO in this sector by StreaksAI.
“The IPO of Raspberry Pi during the summer of 2024 showcased that tech businesses can also achieve impressive valuations on this side of the Atlantic. Hopefully, this will encourage UK tech firms to consider London as their listing destination of choice.”
Mining, Metals & Extraction
While there were no Main Market IPOs in the Mining, Metals & Extraction sector in 2024, the sector saw one listing (a transfer from AIM) by Atalaya Mining, a copper producer with operations in southwest Spain, which has since been included in the FTSE 250.
Altona Rare Earths, which specialises in rare earth elements in East and Central Africa, was the only Mining Main Market IPO in 2023.
Other sectors
Other sectors represented in Main Market IPOs in 2024 were:
- The Food & Beverage sector (Applied Nutrition),
- The Travel, Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism sector (Air Astana), and
- The Consumer Services sector (Fairview International)
Industry sector
AIM
Mining, Metals & Extraction
The Mining, Metals & Extraction sector was the most active for AIM IPOs with three IPOs (30%) together raising £19m (15% of all funds raised in AIM IPOs), two of which were by helium exploration companies:
- Helix Exploration, a helium exploration company with operations in North America,
- Pulsar Helium Inc, a Canadian helium exploration and development company (also listed in Canada and the US), and
- European Green Transition, operating in the green economy transition space whose current assets includes a rare earth project in Sweden
This sector was the best performing in terms of funds raised in AIM secondary offers, with £381m raised in 2024.
In 2023, four IPOs (44%) in the Mining, Metals & Extraction sector together raised 22% of all AIM IPO funds raised.
Technology
The Technology sector was represented by two AIM IPOs. Winking Studios, the game art outsourcing and game development business, raised £8m and GenIP plc, which provides generative AI analytic services, raised £2m.
2023 also saw two Technology sector AIM IPOs (US Fadel Partners, Inc and Tan Delta Systems) and was the highest grossing sector on AIM that year (representing around 30% of funds raised in IPOs).
Investment
The two Investment sector AIM IPOs (both SPACS: Rosebank Industries and Selkirk Group) raised £58m, representing nearly half of all funds raised in 2024.
Other sectors
The other sector represented in 2024 with one AIM IPO was Industrials (Amcomri Group plc).
Food & Beverage
The first AIM IPO of 2024 was by Microsalt plc, a company commercialising a patented technology to produce full-flavour, low sodium salt, which raised £3m. In 2023, Ocean Harvest Technology Group, a producer of seaweed blend ingredients for the animal feed market, raised £6m. The sector also saw one introduction in 2023 by English wine producer Chapel Down, the largest AIM listing that year with a market capitalisation of £86m.
Healthcare
The one Healthcare sector AIM IPO in 2024 was by AOTI, Inc., the US medical technology group, which was also the largest AIM IPO by value that year (market capitalisation of £144m).
Country of incorporation
Main Market
All 2024 Main Market IPOs except for one were by companies incorporated in England & Wales.
The one overseas deal was the GDR offering by Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s national air carrier, which offered shares and GDRs on three stock exchanges – the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Astana International Exchange (AIX) and the London Stock Exchange.
Overseas companies have been more likely to come to the Main Market by way of introduction or transfer from AIM. The two Main Market introductions in 2024 were by overseas companies: French Canal+ SA and Bermuda incorporated and Hong Kong listed CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited.
Cyprus incorporated Atalaya Mining transferred its listing from AIM to the Main Market in 2024.
2023 and 2022 also saw a high proportion of Main Market IPOs by companies incorporated in England & Wales with overseas companies tending to be admitted by way of introduction. French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications SA was admitted without a fundraising in 2023 and Australian global energy company, Woodside Energy Group Ltd (also listed on ASX), was admitted by way of introduction in 2022.
Both 2023 and 2022 also saw one GDR offering: Zhejiang Yongtai Technology Co Ltd in 2023 and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd in 2022.
“The UK markets remain very international compared to their US counterparts. Most US listed companies generate a majority of their revenue within North America whereas just under a third of companies within the FTSE 100 generate a majority of their revenue in the UK. This demonstrates that investors into UK listed stocks are receptive to good equity stories regardless of whether those stories generate revenue inside or outside the UK.”
“The number of IPOs by overseas businesses such as Air Astana and Winking Studios shows that London remains an attractive market for international issuers.”
Country of incorporation
AIM
AIM attracted a wider range of overseas companies in 2024 than the Main Market. Four IPOs (40%) were by companies incorporated overseas including two in Northern America:
- US healthcare group, AOTI, Inc
- Canadian helium exploration and development company, Pulsar Helium plc
- Rosebank Industries plc, a SPAC Incorporated in Jersey, and
- a game art outsourcing and game development company, Winking Studios Ltd, headquartered in Singapore and incorporated in the Cayman Islands
In 2023, there were also four AIM IPOs (44%) by companies incorporated overseas including US company, Fadel Partners Inc. 2022 saw proportionally fewer AIM IPOs by overseas companies (25%).
“Two of the AIM IPOs in 2024 (which we acted on) MicroSalt plc and GenIP plc, were both spin-outs from an existing AIM listed parent company, Tekcapital plc, which listed about 10 years ago and has acted as an incubator of technology companies. MicroSalt and GenIP, whilst both being UK incorporated, are run out of the US, so as with Fadel Partners in 2023, are further examples of smaller US tech businesses looking to the UK markets.
While the US markets have been attracting large tech listings both domestically and for overseas issuers, there would appear to be a gap for smaller tech companies, which do not necessarily want to pursue the VC/PE route to capital raising and which may be too small for their domestic markets.
So long as there is an international angle to these companies, which supports an overseas listing, the London markets can provide a successful platform for US companies seeking to raise capital and to raise their profile internationally among clients and investors.”
“There is an interesting and growing trend of US-based small-cap companies choosing to come to AIM which represents a real opportunity for London and the repositioning of AIM as a viable alternative growth market to Nasdaq.”
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