A company developing a new designer village in northern England is planning to float on a new specialist real estate segment of London's Aquis Stock Exchange.
Aquis Real Asset Market (Aram), led by former Australian rugby union star Michael Lynagh, was launched this month.
Scotch Corner Designer Village Ltd said today that it "may consider" a listing on Aram as it develops its retail and leisure project alongside the A1(M) motorway between Richmond in North Yorkshire and Darlington in County Durham.
Simon Waterfield, owner of Scotch Corner management, sponsor behind Scotch Corner, said: "We are considering being the first company to seek an IPO on the newly launched Aquis Real Asset Market, which we believe can play an important role for developers such as us to access capital, while allowing all investors the possibility of achieving private equity style returns, usually reserved for professional investors and developers."
Waterfield, whose development experience includes Worcester Trade Park, Cotswold Business Park and Newton Business Park in Nottingham, said Scotch Corner Designer Village is "largely pre-let, and therefore derisked", with the site "perfectly located on the 'crossroads of the North'" with a catchment of around 4.5 million consumers living within an hour's drive.
As the new real asset segment of AQSE, Aram was created as a market dedicated to the real estate and infrastructure sector.
The first listing was Zentra Group PLC, a Manchester-based residential developer and development manager, on Monday.
Lynagh, former managing director of Dow Jones Commercial EMEA, who heads up the segment, including sourcing which assets for listing, said: "London has achieved its position as a global financial hub through innovation, but in recent years it has struggled to maintain its competitive edge.
"Aram is exactly what the City needs, creating a platform that democratises access to the real estate market, a market valued at £1.3 trillion in the UK alone, and enabling people to invest in opportunities typically reserved for professional investors."
He said enhancing investment transparency, limiting transaction costs and leveraging Aquis' software, Aram "will revolutionise the public real estate sector".