London Stock Exchange has both its Main Market for established companies, and AIM, its market for growth companies, but how often do companies move from AIM to the Main Market?
The QCA has gathered the data from the past ten years to find the answers and we have found that since 2008:
- 65 companies have moved from AIM to the Main Market
- 56 companies have moved from the Main Market to AIM
The year-by-year data can be seen here:
| AIM to Main Market | Main Market to AIM | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 11 | 10 |
| 2009 | 9 | 3 |
| 2010 | 9 | 7 |
| 2011 | 9 | 6 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4 |
| 2013 | 0 | 8 |
| 2014 | 4 | 8 |
| 2015 | 6 | 5 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3 |
| 2018 | 4 | 1 |
That the number of companies moving from the Main Market to AIM is only a little lower than the other way around might be surprising to some since it is sometimes presented as a natural step of progression for a growing company to want to “graduate” from AIM to the Main Market.
Interestingly, there are also years where the number of companies moving from the Main Market to AIM is higher than the other way around. Companies might find that AIM offers them lower regulatory requirements and potentially lower costs (see here, for example).
You can also see from the chart below that the number of companies making the switch from the Main Market to AIM has trended downwards over the past ten years:
As we progress in 2019, we have seen two companies – Game Digital and Thalassa Holding Ltd – move from AIM to the main list this month. Whilst two companies are going the other way – Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc and United Oil & Gas.
Source: The data is taken from London Stock Exchange (last updated on the 25th of October 2018): https://www.londonstockexchange.com/statistics/new-issues-further-issues/new-issues-further-issues.htm
