More proof of AIM’s rehabilitation has come this
week as City firm Withers released a survey of chief executives raving about its flexibility and generous flow of capital. One gushes: “AIM gives investors the assurance that their money is being looked after but businesses do not have their hands tied too much.”
Not bad for an exchange that only two years ago – admittedly against a backdrop of blue-chip growth stock hysteria – was seen as a bad joke. Such has been the surge of AIM work over the last 12 months that blue bloods such as Ashurst Morris Crisp, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons have dipped their toes into the water.
And why not? It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Taylor Joynson Garretts, Nabarro Nathansons and Osborne Clarkes of this world have done nicely from their new enthusiasm for the UK’s junior exchange. Even drawbacks such as AIM’s lack of liquidity appear a boon when institutional investors are buffeting tech and telecoms stocks on the world’s main exchanges.
How long before other law firms, realising that those international deals are getting further out of their reach submit to AIM’s tender embrace?
Victor Kiam sighted at Wharf Further signs of the old hierarchies in the property community shifting come as Clifford Chance (CC) client Canary Wharf last week became the largest quoted property company in the UK, knocking Land Securities, advised by Nabarro Nathanson, off the top spot. As well as jumping into the Ftse 100 this week, the company is also tipped to buy the Millennium Dome. The Wharf has undoubtedly been a powerful force behind CC’s recently flourishing property department. And CC has so much faith in its client that, in true Victor Kiam style, the firm is moving there.
The success of the Wharf, which under chairman Paul Reichmann was always prepared to aggressively market itself to prospective City tenants, is illustrative of the new breed of fast-moving property companies, whose business has paid off for a select group of advisers.
Property firms that have also been blessed with fast-growing clients include Dechert and Taylor Joynson Garrett, which both advise Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB) – cited as the fastest-growing property company in Europe. MWB’s strong sector approach helped its share price more than double during the last 12 months, with a market cap now of about £137m. Director Michael Bibring puts the success down to a strategy of investing in unloved sectors where there is an obvious cashflow shortage.
But it is not all sweetness and light. Companies that have underperformed include stalwarts Land Securities and SJ Berwin & Co’s bread-and-butter client British Land, which recently failed to acquire Liberty International.
