London IPO activity skyrockets in Q1 2021
IPO Eye An overview of the London Stock Exchange listings in Q1 2021 Market overview
A busy start to 2021 for the London markets Main Market AIM Twelve floats Raised: Eight admissions Raised: The London Stock Exchange witnessed the best start to a year since 2007 with 20 issuers raising £5.6b in the first quarter of 2021, more than half of the £9.4b £5.2b £441m raised in the whole of 2020. The Main Market saw 12 IPOs which raised a combined £5.2b, whilst the Alternative Largest IPO: Largest IPO: Investment Market (AIM) saw eight admissions in the quarter raising £441m. The Dr Martens plc tinyBuild Inc largest Main Market IPO in the period was Dr Martens plc which raised £1.5b, and the largest AIM admission was tinyBuild Inc which raised £154m. Raised: Raised: The performance during the first three months of 2021 is in stark contrast to the same period in 2020 when there were just three IPOs on the Main Market and two £1.5b £154m on AIM, which raised a combined total of £615m — a value nine times lower than this year’s opening quarter. The UK has maintained both its position as the leading listing location in Europe for fund raising and, on a global basis, remains in third place behind the US and China for funds raised via IPO. The markets also had three cross border IPOs in In addition to the extensive IPO activity, the London markets also continued to the quarter including FixPrice, the retailer from the Russian Federation, that raised offer support to existing issuers with over £9b being raised in further offers and £1.2b through the issue of Global depository receipts (GDRs). transactions in the quarter, demonstrating the depth of market available. This represents 25% of total follow-on funds raised in EMEIA in Q1 2021. Confidence in the UK IPO markets as an exit route has been reinforced by the significant Private Equity (PE) activity in the quarter. Three PE-backed IPOs (the same number as in the whole of 2020) were responsible for 41% of funds raised in Q1 2021, including Dr Martens plc as detailed above.
1 IPO markets — historical performance
6 000 20 Main Market 1
1 17 5 000 16
Main Market — 1 1 1 12 IPOs raised 000 12 12 £5.2b in Q1 12 12 2021. The 11 3 000 10
largest by funds No. of IPOs Funds raisedFunds £m raised was 7 2 000 6 Dr Martens plc 6
— which raised 5 £1.5b. 1 000 3 3 2 2 2
0 0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Q1
2016 2017 201 201 2020 2021