Two initial public offers were completed in London on Thursday, taking the total of newcomers so far this year to seven as fundraising conditions in the City remain rather arid.
On the main board, World Chess PLC raised a less-than-hoped £3mln, while New York-based Fadel Partners touched down on AIM with £8mln of new cash.
Earlier in the week, Ocean Harvest Technology Group PLC moored on the junior market after raising £6mln, following floats for Onward Opportunities Ltd (AIM:ONWD), Fulcrum Metals PLC and Celsius Resources Ltd on AIM, and Dar Global PLC and Streaks Gaming on the full list.
The five floats on AIM so far this year come after just 12 new arrivals in 2022, when London welcomes just 45 floats, with just a 90% decline in the money raised compared to the previous year.
Such a dearth of floats has hammered City firms that rely on these deals, with the merger of two of London’s small-cap brokerage stalwarts, finnCap and Cenkos, recently agreeing to join forces.
Recently, investment trust AT85 Global Mid-Market Infrastructure Income pushed back its float date and the pipeline of further IPOs looks slim, said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
Among the handful of other names that have publicly confirmed plans to list are MicroSalt, a spin-out from Tekcapital PLC (LSE:TEK), and Venus Minerals.
“The excuse last autumn for the dearth of IPOs was political uncertainty and volatile market conditions. With markets having moved higher this year and more stability bestowed upon the government, one might have thought more companies would come to market, yet the banking crisis might have put a spanner in the works," she said.
“Once that calms down, we could feasibly see a resurgence in IPOs.
“The big question, however, is whether companies will want to list in London or try their hand at getting a higher valuation elsewhere in the world if they have operations beyond the UK.”