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AIM to battle Nasdaq for floats by Chinese growth companies

Damian Reece
Tuesday 04 May 2004 00:00 BST
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Martin Graham, the director of market services at the London Stock Exchange, is spearheading a drive to establish AIM as the natural home for Chinese companies seeking an international float ahead of Nasdaq, its US rival.

Martin Graham, the director of market services at the London Stock Exchange, is spearheading a drive to establish AIM as the natural home for Chinese companies seeking an international float ahead of Nasdaq, its US rival.

At least two Chinese companies are expected to announce plans for a London flotation on AIM this year, according to Mr Graham. He will travel to China in less than three weeks' time to address the Beijing International High-Tech Expo, including a speech to thousands of delegates in China's Great Hall of the People. Mr Graham is being supported in his efforts by a team of investment professionals from City law firms, brokers and accountancy firms including Grant Thornton, Seymour Pierce and Eversheds.

Mr Graham said: "London is the natural home for companies from China with international aspirations. We will be presenting AIM as the leading international growth stock market and we will be providing details to Chinese companies about listing on AIM. We see significant potential there in the next few years for small and mid-sized companies."

Figures published at the weekend from the Cranfield School of Management showed how the number of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's full list has been shrinking from 1,593 at the start of 1997 to 910 at the end of 2003.

During that time, however, AIM has grown substantially, reaching 800 companies with a market value of £20bn.

A recent trend has been for more overseas companies to list on AIM, with Teleunit, an Italian telecoms company, joining only last week. Recent visits to the region by Clara Furse, the Stock Exchange's chief executive, and Chris Gibson-Smith, its chairman, have helped raise the profile of London.

Now Mr Graham wants to convert those largely diplomatic visits into new business from China before Nasdaq can establish a dominant presence.

"There are a couple of Chinese companies close to coming to AIM. That would be ground breaking stuff. Hopefully that will happen this year. There are thousands of Chinese companies coming to listen to us," Mr Graham said.

He said AIM was the leading international growth market because of its pragmatic regulation that allowed smaller company chief executives the freedom to run their companies and not get bogged down in red tape.

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