Companies: CAB    DDE    MPO    SGL    TRC   

In the first half of 2006 AIM companies raised well over £7 billion, taking total monies raised on the market to more than £32 billion since its inception in 1995. During the second quarter over £3 billion was raised, according to Philip Secrett, partner at AIM advisor Grant Thornton Corporate Finance. A significant portion of the new cash raised this year went to speciality and property funds.

These included hedge fund Close Allblue, which attracted £144 million, German property funds Develica and Summit, which together pulled in C330 million, as well as Macau Property Opportunities’s £105 million and India-focused property fund Trinity Capital’s impressive £238 million fundraisings.

‘In terms of funds raised the market has entered fifth gear,’ insists Secrett, though the number of IPOs has staunched slightly, with 110 companies floating in the second quarter, down from the 147 in the same period last year.

‘While expectations are for a greater number of such companies to come to AIM,’ expounds Secrett, ‘it is likely that for their current popularity to be matched by equally popular returns, investors will need to wait. Putting large amounts of raised capital to work in order to get strong returns will inevitably take some time. The big question rests on the amount of patience investors will wish to lend.’