London's IPO fundraising outstrips New York's by 50%
Stateside generation of cash from IPO activity dwarfed by London rivals during the first quarter of 2007
The London Stock
Exchange has trounced its New York counterparts in the amount of cash raised
by initial public offerings. In the first quarter of 2007 London’s main market
and AIM exchanges raised $11.2bn (£5.7bn) through IPOs compared with $8.3bn on
the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange.
Business information providers
Thomson
Financial said IPOs raised $11.2bn (£5.7bn) on London’s main market and Aim
in the first three months of 2007, against $8.3bn on Nasdaq and the New York
Stock Exchange.
Although Aim is the world’s busiest market in terms of the number of new
issues, a succession of major floats on the London Stock Exchange’s main market
saw it raise $7.8bn, outstripping both Nasdaq’s $5.2bn and the NYSE’s $3.1bn.
Aim raised $3.4bn in the same period.
London benefited from the return to the market of the $1.97bn Irish packaging
group Smurfit Kappa, the sports retailer Sports Direct and 3i’s infrastructure
fund. Together with the hedge fund group BH Macro, this meant London saw four
floats worth more than $1bn each,
The Telegraph
reported.
Mergers and acquisitions activity has also surged as UK corporateshave
snapped up overseas companies, spending more than twice the amount on
foreign businesses than they did in the same period in 2006.
Further reading:
London ranked as world’s six largest city
economy
London a top destination for IPOs