Floats are stacking up on Aim as pallet maker RM2 makes debut
PALLET manufacturer RM2 joined the junior stock market yesterday after raising £137.2m to finance its expansion plans.
The IPO is one of the biggest floats of the past year on the Alternative Investment Market.
RM2 designs, makes and supplies pallets for transporting goods, using materials it claims are much stronger than the traditional wooden designs.
The firm, which counts former M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose and ex-Diageo head Paul Walsh among its board members, has a market cap of around £280m following its debut on Aim.
The market hosted 69 IPOs last year, with companies raising £1.17bn – an increase of 65 per cent on the previous year, according to UHY Hacker Young.
Bonmarche, Conviviality and Safestyle UK picked Aim for their floats in 2013.
The London Stock Exchange enjoyed its best year for floats since the heady days of 2007 last year, as businesses become more confident about raising money and the rising equity markets offered a strong platform on which to sell shares.
Shares in RM2 closed flat at 100p yesterday.
ADVISERS RM2’S FLOAT
JOE NALLY
CENKOS SECURITIES
Cenkos Securities acted as nominated adviser and sole broker to RM2 for its float on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim).
A team led by Joe Nally and Neil McDonald worked towards the deal. Nally, one of the founding shareholders of Cenkos, has worked for over 35 years in the securities industry.
Now head of the natural resources team and an executive director, his career has included roles as investment analyst, stockbroker and founder of Williams de Broe’s institutional corporate finance department, where he worked on IPOs, secondary fund raising, takeovers and mergers. He specialises in the mining and oil and gas sectors.
Also in the natural resources team, McDonald works mainly in the energy sector.
After joining Cenkos in 2011 he dealt with fundraisings and IPOs on the main and junior stock markets for companies such as Plexus Holdings, Lansdowne Oil & Gas, Oxford Catalysts and IGas. He is a qualified finance lawyer, having previously worked for Scottish solicitors Shepherd and Wedderburn.
Cenkos Securities was set up in 2005 and focuses on small and mid-cap listed companies. In the last few months, the firm has advised on a £200m share placing for Quindell and the admission of Benchmark Holdings to Aim.
By Chiara Rimella