AIM Listings Continue to Rise, Says Walkers Indian Companies Expected to Embrace AIM Listings in 2007 .
Offshore listings on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's international market for smaller growing companies, are on the rise according to Walkers, the global offshore law firm of choice for fund managers, corporations, financial institutions, and international law firms. The firm is seeing more interest from companies in India, China, and other emerging markets who want to gain the benefits of offshore listings by accessing the exchange through Jersey and the British Virgin Islands.
"AIM offers a tremendous amount of liquidity to smaller companies, as well as access to institutional investors who often turn into mentors and partners," said Hiren Patel, a partner in Walkers' Jersey office who did the first offshore AIM listing for a Chinese company in 2004. "It's a win-win situation since AIM has lower listing fees compared to other exchanges and investors often see significant return on their investments in emerging markets which AIM can access. There are clear tax advantages, on top of the benefits of AIM listing, if the listing is done through an offshore jurisdiction such as Jersey or the BVI."
According to Walkers, offshore listings for Indian companies are expected to increase exponentially in 2007. In 2006, 11 Indian companies listed through London on the exchange, raising more than 1 bn pounds. Seven of these listings were from offshore jurisdictions, up from only one in 2005. India is increasingly viewed as an emerging market and changes in the country's regulatory regime allow both inward and outward investments. The Reserve Bank of India recently relaxed rules around the conversion of the rupee, which also simplifies investments and opens up more opportunities in Europe for Indian companies. Asian companies have also seen the benefits of listing on AIM, with 43 companies listed on the exchange, 25 added in 2006 alone.
"We've done ten offshore listings for Chinese companies in the last 18 months," Patel continued. "The flexibility and clear path to an IPO are attractive to virtually any company. However, for countries such as China where foreign investment may be more challenging, an offshore listing on AIM opens up many more opportunities."
Walkers predicts that the new authorisation process enacted earlier this month by the Jersey Financial Services Commission for closed-ended funds that are or will be listed on designated stock exchanges will further boost AIM listings in this jurisdiction. The changes will streamline the authorisation process, which will benefit investors and entrepreneurs.
About The Walkers Group
From offices in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, and Tokyo, the Walkers group provides legal and management services to leading FORTUNE 100 and FTSE 100 global corporations and financial institutions, capital markets participants, investment fund managers, and growth- and middle-market companies.
The Walkers group is comprised of leading offshore law firm, Walkers; fund services provider, Walkers Fund Services Limited; and SPV and corporate services providers, Walkers SPV Limited, Walkers (Jersey) Limited, and Walkers (BVI) Limited.
In 2006, Walkers was named as the Who's Who Legal Law Firm of the Year: Cayman Islands, the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook Leading Cayman Islands Law Firm, The Lawyer's Offshore Law Firm of the Year, and was one of two firms honored as "Offshore Legal Team of the Year" by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).