Overview

In recent weeks the world’s stock markets have been no playground for those of a weaker disposition. Volatility has been the order of the day as investors have had to digest a seemingly endless diet of uncertainty and plain bad news. The Greek debt crisis rumbles on amidst fears that it will infect most of the Eurozone; in Bangkok the death toll continues to rise as the red shirts refuse to disperse; the threat of volcanic ash clouds continues to plague the airline industry and it is feared that China will pursue further measures to address a potential real estate bubble.

As a result, global indices have risen and fallen on an almost daily basis as market participants try to navigate their way through a morass of conflicting news.

However, it has not all been bad news. Earlier this month, Masterskill Education Group, Malaysia’s largest private-sector operator of nursing schools, shrugged off market woes to raise around US$240m in Malaysia’s largest initial public offering so far this year and L’Occitane International, the French producer and retailer of cosmetics and skincare products, raised more than US$700m in Hong Kong and was apparently “very significantly oversubscribed”.

So, with a seemingly strong supply of companies still keen to IPO, where does all this leave London’s AIM market?

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