In the current climate, amid all the talk of market volatility, you would be forgiven for thinking that it is only the hedge funds and speculative traders who are benefiting from the capital markets, writes Stephen Hamilton, corporate partner, Mills & Reeve.

However, putting aside the fluctuations in share prices, Mills & Reeve is finding its listed clients are making the most of their listed profile and are taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves in the market.

Based on Mills & Reeve’s experience, corporate Britain has money to invest, is prepared to make strategic acquisitions and has the appetite to drive business and the UK forward.

Mills & Reeve client, Ubisense Group plc (one of the world’s leading location solutions companies), has just completed its first acquisition since its AIM IPO in the summer (when the company raised around £9 million and had a market capitalisation of over £40 million on its first day of trading).

Ubisense has acquired Integrated Mapping Services Inc, a US-based company focused on delivering geospatial business solutions to electric and gas utilities. This is an example of a market leading Cambridge technology company now consolidating its position by strategic acquisitions in its chosen markets.

While Ubisense took advantage of the cash it raised at the time of its IPO for the purpose of the acquisition of InMaps, Mills & Reeve has recently advised Abcam plc on an acquisition where the consideration was structured as a mixture of 60 per cent cash and 40 per cent shares.

Structuring an acquisition in this way is made easier by having quoted paper to use as currency. Abcam, a global leader in the supply of protein research tools, acquired Ascent Scientific Limited to extend its product portfolio into specialist small molecules and is therefore a further example of a company adding to its portfolio of products and thereby cementing its position in its chosen market.

A number of Mills & Reeve’s other listed clients are currently in discussions in relation to strategic transactions and the Firm’s experience is that notwithstanding the volatility in the capital markets, listed companies are taking advantage of their position to grow their businesses and drive their products and offerings forward.

It appears that corporate Britain has funds to invest, is making strategic moves to consolidate its position and is not running shy from using the capital markets to facilitate those objectives.

While there is no doubt that new admissions to the capital markets this year are down, based on the London Stock Exchange’s statistics, there have still been 28 new admissions to AIM since the beginning of June (including Ubisense). It is clear that companies are still finding that they have a credible story that is attracting the interests of investors.

Any company that sees an admission to the capital markets as a possible part of their future growth story should ensure that they take practical steps so as to prepare for any future listing.

Having recently acted as legal advisers to Ubisense on their successful IPO, Mills & Reeve are holding a seminar on November 2 at their Cambridge office titled ‘The Ubisense IPO Story’ - hear it straight from Ubisense and its advisers.

This seminar will explain:
- why Ubisense chose to IPO;
- the steps Ubisense took in preparation for an IPO;
- how Ubisense captured its new institutional investors;
- how Ubisense structured its pre-IPO fundraising;
- how Ubisense’s existing investors were included; and
- how Ubisense bucked a fragile market and opened with a strong share price that rose over 20 per cent on its first day of trading.

On the panel of speakers will be Gordon Campbell, CFO of Ubisense, Simon Bridges from Canaccord Genuity (Ubisense’s financial adviser, nominated adviser and broker), Mills & Reeve corporate partner Stephen Hamilton, as well as Mark Clement and Alison Seekings from Ubisense’s reporting accountants and auditors, Grant Thornton. The seminar will also feature comment from the London Stock Exchange itself.

For further information about this event please contact Stephen at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it