09 March 2004
London Stock Exchange welcomes first Australian company to take fast track route to AIM
The London Stock Exchange today welcomed Gippsland Limited to AIM, its international market for smaller, growing companies.
Gippsland, a mineral resources business, is the first Australian company to join AIM via the recently introduced Designated Markets route, which offers companies already quoted on one of 9 overseas markets an expedited admission process to AIM. It is the seventh international company to use the Designated Markets route as a fast-track to an AIM quotation since its introduction last May.
Martin Graham, Head of AIM, said:
"We are delighted to welcome Gippsland to AIM, the world’s most successful market for smaller, growing companies. Gippsland joins a large number of Australian companies already quoted on AIM and, with the Designated Markets admission process and the recent addition of two Australian Nominated Advisers, we expect to welcome more in the future."
Australia has the largest number of non-UK companies on AIM, and Gippsland joins 14 Australian companies already quoted on the market with a combined market value of £620 million.
In addition, the Exchange expects to welcome two more Western Australian companies, Aztec Resources and Albidon Limited, to AIM by the end of the month. Albidon will be the second company to be brought to AIM by Australian based Nominated Adviser, RFC.
AIM is the London Stock Exchange's international market for young and growing companies. As at the end of February 2004, there were 761 AIM companies, up from 703 at the same time in 2003. Of these, 61 are international companies (2003: 50 international).
In 2003, 162 new companies joined AIM, including 66 IPOs raising over £1 billion, with AIM alone accounting for 60% of all IPOs in Western Europe (with the London Stock Exchange as a whole accounting for 78% of all IPOs in Western Europe). The number of shares traded on AIM more than doubled from 24.8 billion in 2002 to 57.7 billion in 2003, with the value of shares traded rising from £3.5 billion to £6.6 billion over the same period.
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Notes to editors:
- About the Designated Markets route to AIM
In May 2003, the Exchange made changes to the AIM Rules to allow fast-track access. Procedures are in place for approving other AIM Designated Markets in due course.
In most cases 'fast-track' companies will not need to produce an AIM admission document, since they will use their existing annual reports and accounts as a basis for admission instead. However, companies using the new route are required to:
- have been traded on one of the nine AIM Designated Markets for at least 18 months
- give a minimum 20 business days’ notice to the market that they intend to join, instead of the usual 10 days. The notice should include any further information required under AIM disclosure rules, which has not already been disclosed in the home market.
join the market within 9 calendar months of their financial year-end
- appoint and retain a London Stock Exchange-approved nominated adviser (nomad)
- have their nomad perform any additional due diligence and warrant that they are suitable for AIM
- abide by AIM’s ongoing disclosure obligations once they are on the market
- have an address or website address where any announcements the company has made during the last two years are available. (Only for public announcements and documents published as a consequence of the company's securities being traded.)
- About Gippsland
Gippsland Limited is an Australian based resource company with a primary listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company is managed by Directors who provide a complimentary blend of technical and commercial skills, and have a long history in the successful running of technically complex private and listed companies.
Gippsland is interested in world-scale resource projects outside Australia which have been overlooked by major mining companies. In particular, the company focuses on projects which have been subjected to detailed exploration and have the potential for a short lead-time to start-up and a low operating cost.
Gippsland's prime assets are the 40 million tonne Abu Dabbab and the 98 million tonne Nuweibi tantalum-tin-feldspar projects located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt, adjacent to the western shore of the Red Sea. An independent scoping study undertaken by the international engineering group Lycopodium Pty Ltd during March 2003 determined that the Abu Dabbab project has an NPV of US$127 million and an IRR of 36%. The Abu Dabbab bankable feasibility study being undertaken by the Lycopodium Pty Ltd is scheduled for completion during early 2004.
In addition, Gippsland regularly reviews both gold and base metals projects with the aim to diversify the company's activities and asset base. While projects having the capacity to produce early cash-flows are of particular interest, the prime focus is directed towards potentially world-scale projects.
The company commenced trading on AIM today after raising, in conjunction with UK based broker Hoodless Brennan & Partners Plc, £0.7 (A$1.7) million through the issue of 25 million shares at 2.8 pence (A$0.068). Gippsland has a market capitalisation at the admission price on commencement of trading of £5.3 (A$13) million. Grant Thornton is acting as the company's Nominated Adviser.
- About the London Stock Exchange:
The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s leading equity exchanges and a leading provider of services that facilitate the raising of capital and the trading of shares.
The London Stock Exchange is the most international equities exchange by trading in the world and Europe's largest pool of liquidity. By the end of 2003, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted to £3.3 trillion, with £3.6 trillion of equity business transacted over the year.
The London Stock Exchange is a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and is supervised by the Financial Services Authority.