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London Main Market and AIM listings rose significantly in 2021 across the UK. Yorkshire was a strong part of this trend and we continue to speak to SMEs who are considering or actively planning for IPOs as their preferred exit route.

We have known Rob Mckie at DLA Piper for many years and as one of the most authoritative voices on IPOs in the legal sector in Yorkshire. We are delighted to bring his observations on the local market and some predictions for the future.

At DLA Piper we believe we are uniquely placed in South Yorkshire to provide our clients with a full legal services offering which is both local and global and retains a down to earth, common-sense approach to providing advice to our clients who consider us as their business advisers and not simply their lawyers.

As a result we are involved in advising many of the local AIM and Main Market listed companies whom we advise on their IPOs and their everyday business needs and over the last 24 months we have seen a number of companies in this area floating on AIM and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, as well as more established listed local companies raising funds on those markets in order to develop and grow their businesses.

‍We have certainly seen the markets open for business in the last couple of years as investors have been looking to invest the funds they have raised in order to secure a return on that investment and the London Stock Market is still considered an attractive market in which to invest.

That investment has often been focussed on specific sectors, and in particular, we have noticed there has been a trend in recent years in the number of IPOs in the region in the tech sector; notably the flotation of Big Technologies plc, a software and computer services business that floated on AIM in July 2021 with an initial market capitalisation of £577 million with a base in South Yorkshire. We have also seen local companies such as ZOO Digital Group (the leading provider of end-to-end, cloud-based localisation and media services to the global entertainment industry) raising new funds on AIM which has enabled them to strategically develop and expand their business internationally. Another sector that we expect to grow in the coming year is the manufacturing sector, as the UK focuses on growth in specialist manufacturing companies and having seen Libertine Holdings plc, a developer of clean, highly efficient and fuel-flexible Linear Generator products listed on AIM at the end of December2021 with a market capitalisation of approximately £27.6 million. It is also exciting to see companies such as Clean Power Hydrogen plc, a UK based green hydrogen technology and manufacturing group being admitted to AIM recently and raising proceeds of £30.5 million (before expenses) from an oversubscribed placing when it listed, and whilst it may still be early stages for a number of companies in the renewable energy sector, we do expect to see IPO activity in this sector over the next couple of years as the country moves away from fossil fuels. Indeed, we are already in discussions with a number of companies in this sector about possible flotations and raising money on the London Stock Exchange.

Whilst there is still uncertainty over macroeconomic and geopolitical events, which are likely to continue for the rest of 2022, we are still of the view that good businesses in this region who are looking to float their companies will be able to do so on the London Stock Exchange and raise money to develop their businesses and achieve their strategic ambitions.

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We look forward to bringing you the perspectives of Gareth Hague next Tuesday 17tMay. Gareth was the Group Finance Director at SimplyBiz in Huddersfield when they listed in 2018. More recently, he has lead the IPO of Libertine Holdingsplc in Sheffield in December 2021.