Get it while you can. That appears to be the mantra among City deal makers as the Brexit vote looms.
The possibility of Britain choosing to leave the European Union in the coming months casts an uncertain shadow.
Experts say capital markets may freeze altogether if there is a Brexit scenario, but, for now at least, the City is very much open for business.
Finance executives everywhere are busy pushing through fundings before the shop shuts ahead of June’s big vote.
The best part of £60mln was raised across five new issues on AIM in April, some £150mln is already pencilled in for the new listings already in May.
Even the junior market’s natural resource firms – those left standing after the commodity purge – have in begun to see funding shackles come off in recent weeks.
London’s small caps are not alone either.
Whilst Barclays (raising £600mln from its African disposal) and Centrica (issuing £750mln of new shares) have their own good reasons for needing to bolster their books, the pre-referendum timing is unlikely a coincidence.
What will actually happen in the coming months remains to be seen.
Perhaps the Remain camp wins, perhaps there’ll be no drama.
Perhaps the Brexit fear has been overstated.
In the meantime, for another few weeks at least, London’s funding market is very much open for business.
Here we take a look at some of the IPO highlights:
Midwich Group (LON:MIDW)
Last Friday morning saw Midwich Group Plc (LON:MIDW) get off to a premium debut on London’s AIM market.
Raising £75.2mln at 208p per share, Midwich’s AIM float is among the largest thus far in 2016.
Midwich supplies an array of technologies for marketing purposes and trade shows - things such as top-end projectors, interactive touch-screens, ‘video walls’ and 3D printing.
Hotel Chocolat
Premium chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat closed a £55.5mln placing, priced at 148p per share, on May 5 and admission to AIM is due on Tuesday May 10.
Some £12mln is retained by the company for its investment, while £43.5mln goes to selling shareholders (including certain directors and management).
The group, which currently has 84 outlets, plans to use the new injection of funds to accelerate its growth strategy.
Joules Group
Posh welly maker Joules recently announced plans to float on AIM, shrugging off the supposed decline of the UK high street.
It is looking to list by the end of the second quarter. A £55mln-£70mln float is expected value the business at around £140mln.
SDX Energy Inc (CVE:SDX)
SDX Energy, an Egypt and Africa focussed oil producer, currently listed in Canada, is due to list on AIM on May 20.
The company is expected to raise US$11mln through the IPO, and the cash is already earmarked for investments designed to double production volumes.
Chief executive Paul Welch, in a Proactive Investors interview last week, said: “I think we’re at the low ebb of the cycle and this is the time when you need to make investments.
“You need to put money into the ground because that’s where it’s going to grow and so that’s what we’re doing.”
Amryt Pharma (LON:AMYT)
It raised £10mln as part of its listing at the end of March - part of a reverse takeover into former oil explorer Fastnet – which valued the group at just shy of £30mln.
Chaired by Harry Stratford, founder of FTSE 100 giant Shire Plc, Amryt has the management expertise and boardroom experience of a much larger company.
The group aims to carve a niche in the area of drugs that tackle-hard-to-treat illnesses with globally small patient groups, but significant revenue-generating potential.
Oncimmune
A £11mln raise sees cancer detection group Oncimmune join AIM this week. The IPO is expected to value the group at around £66mln – and it will boost its profile among investors.
Oncimmune’s lead product is claimed to detect cancer up to four years earlier than conventional diagnostic methods.
And given the global market for cancer diagnostic products is forecast to grow - from around $100bn in 2014 to approximately $170bn in 2020 – it clearly represents an exciting potential growth market.
Watkin Jones (LON:WJG)
The student accommodation group came to market in March with an oversubscribed offer, raising around £30mln more than its original £100mln target.
At an IPO price of 100p the group was valued at £255mln, and at 108.5p today it continues to see support in the secondary market.
Osirium Technologies (LON:OSI)
Osirium, a cyber security group, joined AIM in mid-April, following a £6mln placing.
The company specialises in software to protect privileged accounts from attack, abuse and to contain a breach if one occurs.
Directa Plus
The Italy based producer of graphene announced last week its intention to float. Cash raised in the IPO will be invested to support manufacturing capabilities, and the AIM listing is also expected to raise the group’s profile.