London Stock Exchange marks strong H1 2021
London Stock Exchange has marked a strong and active first half of 2021. Capital raising via IPOs broke a long-held record, with 49 IPOs completed in the first six months of 2021.
Raising over £27bn in equity capital in the first half of 2021, London continues to be Europe’s most active exchange by a considerable margin. It raised 55% more equity capital than its nearest European rival and is one of the world’s four most active exchanges.
LSE has welcomed issuers from the US, Canada, Israel, Russia, Australia and the EU. These have included Denmark’s first unicorn Trustpilot; Russia’s largest variety retailer Fix Price; Seattle-based video games publisher tinyBuild, which became the largest US company by market capitalisation to list on AIM and Canadian connectivity solutions provider Alphawave, the largest admission of a North American company in London Stock Exchange history. As it stands, more than one in three (38%) of issuers on London Stock Exchange are international.
After the IPO of Calnex in late 2020, there have been two further IPOs of Scottish companies in 2021 – AMTE Power and Parsley Box – and of two founder-led businesses from the North West – In The Style and musicMagpie.
AIM continued to be the world’s leading growth market and saw its highest level of daily trading in its 26-year history. In June, Victorian Plumbing became the largest-ever AIM IPO by market capitalisation (£850mn).
London’s tech momentum continues to build; there were 23 tech and consumer internet IPOs in the first half of 2021 with a combined market cap of more than £8billion and tech and consumer internet companies accounted for more than 50% of IPO capital raised.
One in four IPOs in the first half of 2021 were founder-led businesses IPOs’ and London’s founder-friendly approach will continue to evolve in light of the recommendations of the Hill review.
Capital raising in the fund sector has remained active with £1.2 billion in IPO capital raised by five issuers, all within the alternative assets space including in digital infrastructure, energy infrastructure and shipping. Existing funds have returned to the market, raising over £3bn YTD, an increase of over 220% compared to the same period in 2020.
The rise of working-from-home in response to COVID-19 has accelerated the desire to conduct deals digitally. London Stock Exchange has responded to this demand, supporting innovative and pioneering transactions from issuers in the first half of 2021.
In an important milestone in capital markets automation and digitisation, London Stock Exchange’s new digital platform, Flow, was used for the first time during the issuance of a $7bn syndicated multi-tranche bond in partnership with Barclays, HSBC, Linklaters and Freshfields. It demonstrates the potential of such platforms to improve current capital markets workflows.