Press releases 2001

4 September 2001

 

600 COMPANIES - AIM'S SUCCESS REACHES A NEW HIGH

 

The London Stock Exchange's global market for small and growing companies, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), reached a new milestone today - Owl Technologies' quotation took the total number of companies quoted on AIM to 600 for the first time.

 

AIM has moved from strength to strength since its launch in 1995. So far this year, AIM has seen more than 60 IPOs, which is more than all the other European growth and technology markets combined. In addition, AIM has by far the largest number of companies of all the European growth and technology markets.*

 

AIM's unique regulatory structure, which requires authorised nominated advisers to advise companies at all times, allows young and growing companies to raise capital and access the largest pool of liquidity in Europe. AIM avoids imposing unnecessary regulatory obligations that could hamper the growth of companies in early stages of development. AIM also gives investors with an interest in young and growing companies the opportunity to widen their investment portfolios.

 

Tim Ward, the Exchange's Head of Issuer Services, said:

 

"AIM plays a vital role in the UK, and the wider European economy, as it allows growing companies such as Owl Technologies to raise capital at an earlier stage of development than they could on the main market. It's also important to point out that, despite AIM's impressive growth, quality is not being compromised for the sake of quantity and AIM's unique regulatory structure continues to serve the market extremely well."

 

"AIM is a significant part of the London Stock Exchange's portfolio and recognises that companies that are at different stages of development have varying needs. The market is now well-established as an essential part of the economy's business development pipeline."

 

The market was established in 1995 to provide small and growing companies with the opportunity to raise capital at an earlier stage of development. Since its launch, AIM companies have raised a total of around 7 billion to fund further growth.

 

Notes to editors:

 

• The London Stock Exchange launched a campaign to further internationalise AIM earlier this year. This has included a pan-European advertising campaign and roadshows and seminars in Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Stockholm, Munich and Milan.
• AIM's rules have also recently been re-written to make them easier to understand for international companies and advisors.
• AIM statistics as at 31 July 2001

Market capitalisation	12.4 billion
Money raised, since launch	6.87 billion
Money raised, year to date	699.7 million
No. of international companies	38
No. of countries represented	11
No. of industry sub-sectors represented	73

Total turnover, since launch

 

			Value	28.9 billion
			No. of bargains	3,995,449
			No. of shares	97,399,701,607

Total turnover, year to date

 

	Value	3.3 billion
	No. of bargains	476,405
	No. of shares	17,193,042,665

• Owl Technologies

Owl Technologies is a provider of technology for the treatment of wastewaters and effluents using a novel technology known as bioremediation. This is a process for treating effluent using, amongst other things, special strains of bacteria to remove some or all of the chemical constituents, which would otherwise be potentially harmful to the environment.

 

The Company raised 865,000 gross on AIM at an issue price of 4p capitalising the company at 3.7million.

 

* For comparative purposes "all European growth and technology markets" are defined as: techMARK, AIM, Neuer Markt, Nasdaq Europe/Easdaq, Nouveau Marche, NMAX and Nuovo Mercato. Calculations based on most recent available data from individual exchange websites.