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Listing options aplenty

Tom Attenborough

here is no doubt 2020 was a bumper peared comfortable making investment de- spirits were high in the investment com-
Tyear for IPOs and a large portion of re- cisions based on virtual presentations and munity and would only improve on the back
sources companies on the ASX. online meetings as company executives of vaccines being successfully rolled out
And it appeared the flow of activity on revelled in pitching investment cases from around the world.
some of the other prominent bourses for their lounge rooms. “Clearly, that inspires confidence and
mining houses around the world was equal- “Nine months ago, if you asked me if it shows the light at the end of the tunnel we
ly fulsome. was possible to do an IPO without man- are heading towards. Confidence is always
“Certainly, the amount of capital raised agement physically having met the inves- good for IPOs and investor risk appetite
was extremely good. We have also noticed tors they were trying to sell securities to, I more broadly. Despite the success of digi-
a number of new listings come through would have laughed,” head of international tal marketing, I think investors are looking
since September; we have had a significant business development, primary markets, forward to getting back into the office and
uptick in new listings and that looks like it London Stock Exchange Group Tom Atten- having physical meetings again,” he said.
is going to continue,” head of global min- borough said. “We are probably starting 2021 with as
ing, TSX and TSX-V Dean McPherson told “We had 43 IPOs last year, the vast ma- strong a forward-looking pipeline as we
Paydirt in late 2020. jority of which were done in the second have had in recent years. We have started
“We have seen a lot of interest from larg- half of the year and all marketing was done the year with a lot of confidence and the
er companies looking to do a listing here as digitally. The world adapted remarkably well markets feel like they really adapted well
well. Newcrest [Mining Ltd] added a Toron- and it had to adapt quickly. I think necessity and supported companies last year.”
to listing to its make-up in October and we being the mother of invention, companies Some £9.3 billion was raised from the 43
have had a couple of companies from Lon- have embraced new technologies.” IPOs which made their way onto London
don start that process as well. I think gener- Attenborough spoke to Paydirt from Lon- markets last year, with nine new listings in
ally companies are taking renewed interest don as the UK was entering its third lock- the metals and mining space plus a further
in mining globally and trying to make sure down period in early January, essentially three cash shells looking to invest in the
that they can reach investors everywhere.” dashing the hopes people had of returning sector.
Apart from the shellshock of late March/ to their offices in Q1. Like the ASX, there was a flurry of activity
early April when the true reality of COVID-19 Despite the public health situation in the on the London Stock Exchange in the sec-
took affect around the world, investors ap- UK and other places, Attenborough said ond half of 2020, and while there is good

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT FeBRUaRY 2021 Page 23