Member Article

Manchester investment bank behind £200m DX flotation

A Manchester based investment bank is behind the largest corporate fundraising on AIM since 2006 following DX’s £200 million flotation.

Zeus Capital acted as financial advisor and sole broker to the parcels and logistics firm on its public listing, raising £193 million of new equity.

Zeus Capital has raised almost £220 million so far this year - up £70 million on 2013 - and look set to complete the £500 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) for fashion outlet Boohoo.

In recent months, the firm has also advised Manchester based 4d pharma on its £16.5 million AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) float, along with the £10 million secondary fundraise for AIM listed clean-tech flagship ITM Power.

DX was founded in 1975 and generated £305.7 million revenue in 2013, with profit of £34.4 million.

Ross Andrews, head of plc advisory at Zeus Capital, said: “IPO activity has been prolific in the North West, with a host of businesses opting to float. With the level of interest from institutional investors, it comes as no surprise that this trend is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

“In particular, we have seen a significant increase in AIM activity, giving owners and management alike a great opportunity to achieve a successful exit for existing shareholders and provide the business in question with the right funding platform to grow.”

Zeus Capital was behind two of the three biggest corporate AIM IPOs last year after bringing Conviviality Retail plc to the market, raising £64 million, and also acting as sole broker to retailer and manufacturer of PVC windows Safestyle UK plc, raising £70 million.

AIM is the London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller, growing companies.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .