In the first half of 2010, the Plus stock exchange's primary market performed well, with a high level of admissions, applications, fundraising and M&A activity.
New PLUS companies - PLUS admitted a total of 12 new companies from January to June 2010, of which four joined the market during the month of June:
- Sovereign Mines of Africa (market cap £9.09m) - forms joint ventures with governments in Africa for mineral exploration
- China Food Company (convertible loan notes) - operates a group of well established food manufacturing businesses producing a range of cooking and dipping sauces
- Gold Mining Company Limited (market cap £1.29m) - makes strategic investments in gold and gold related entities involved in exploration, development and production
- Imperial Music and Media PLC (market cap £1.10m) - an investment vehicle that seeks investment and acquisition opportunities in the music and media markets
Applications - 15 companies applied to join the PLUS exchange during the first half of this year. The most recent of these is Ford Eagle Group Limited. The company is an investment and advisory firm with representation in China, Hong Kong, USA, Japan and the UK, providing advice on restructuring, M&As and IPOs. Also, Cretan Group, a real estate developer based in the Mediterranean and with market cap of £110m, applied to join in April.
Fundraising - there were some 45 rounds of fundraising on the exchange with PLUS companies using their quotations to raise almost £9m of capital. Oracle Coalfields and Gold Mining Company Limited raised £1.1m and £0.8m respectively in June and most recently Keycom announced a fundraising of £1.9m.
Corporate Activity - in June, PLUS-quoted company AH Medical secured new financing through the issue of a secured convertible loan note of £2m to two private individuals.
Events - the PLUS Roadshow autumn programme for private investors and retail brokers kicks-off in September in Leeds (16 September). The Roadshow is being organised by PLUS-quoted company Three's a Crowd, and further further events are to take place in Bristol (30 September) and London (14 October).
"We are pleased to report a high level of activity on PLUS's primary market for the first half of this year. A number of good quality companies have joined our exchange and there are a significant number of applications in the pipeline. As a degree of confidence returns to the market, we are optimistic for the second half of the year," said Paul Haddock, Head of Capital Markets at the PLUS stock exchange.