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On 9 July 2020, Elixirr International plc became the fourth company to list on AIM this year, officially ending a four-month period of inactivity on the junior market. The last IPO on AIM was FRP Advisory’s listing on 6 March, which took place just before the markets came to a standstill as coronavirus pandemic restrictions took effect.

Elixirr raised £25 million via a placing of both new and existing shares prior to admission to trading and launched with a market capitalisation of £98.1 million. Founder and CEO Stephen Newton retained a 33.1% shareholding in the company and the company announced that employees will be able to participate in Elixirr’s performance via an employee share scheme, which will be adopted by the company after admission.

The self-styled ‘challenger’ management consultancy was founded in 2009, and primarily operates in the UK but also has operations in South Africa and the United States. In its prospectus, Elixirr outlined its future plans for growth and acquisition, stating its hope ‘that Admission will provide a platform to enhance and diversify the business.’ However, notwithstanding its decision to proceed with an IPO during the bleakest economic forecast for decades, Elixirr did acknowledge the effect of COVID-19 on both the economy and investor appetite, including references to coronavirus as both a risk factor and in its assessment of the company as a going concern.

Financial advisors finnCap acted as sole brokers and sole bookrunners to the transaction and were appointed as the company’s Nominated Advisors. Osborne Clarke acted as Elixirr’s legal advisers. Market Tracker spoke with Jonathan King, Head of the Equity Capital Markets team that advised on the IPO, who commented:

'The public markets have really stepped up over lockdown and provided capital swiftly and cost effectively. Much more so than in the private world. The benefits of a listing, the general resilience of the UK capital markets and the ease and speed of access to institutional and retail capital have been highlighted by these extraordinary times.’

For more on trends in equity capital markets, our ECM trend report provides an in-depth look at IPO and secondary offering transactions in 2019. Highlights include a three-year comparative review and month-by-month analysis of deal activity, case studies of the biggest transactions in 2019, a focus on risk factor disclosures in prospectuses, a look at emerging trends in choice of market segment and legal and regulatory developments in 2019 and H1 2020. Download a free copy here.

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