McClure Naismith Strikes Gold With Scotland’s First IPO For Three Years

Leading commercial law firm McClure Naismith LLP has advised Scotland’s first IPO for nearly three years – the successful listing on AIM of Scotgold Resources, a company focused on developing Scotland’s only goldmine located in the Perthshire hills.

The company, which is already listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (AsX), had raised £704,000 as part of its flotation, which was over-subscribed and attracted a great deal of interest from institutional investors and private client brokers.

The listing of Scotgold Resources has bucked a gradual decline in the number of listed companies in Scotland - from around 200 in 1990, there are now just 30 main market companies, with 20 companies leaving the market in the last two years. Prior to Scotgold Resources, the last Scottish business to list was i-design, which joined AIM in July 2007.

Andrew Williamson, Corporate Partner and advisor to Scotgold Resources, believes the listing should encourage ambitious, growing business to consider an IPO: “For the right business, an IPO remains by far and away the best and most appropriate strategy for growth” he said.

“A listing also provides hard-working entrepreneurs with a highly-efficient way of realising a good return on the investment they have made in time, money and effort to build an outstanding business. With the well-documented problems that businesses are having raising finance from banks and other sources, a listing offers a very real alternative to growing companies that are finding it difficult to raise funds that, two years ago, would have been relatively easy to secure.

He added: “As the recovery gathers pace, albeit a very slow pace, more and more businesses will be thinking about growth opportunities, and the best expansion strategies. Hopefully the success of Scotgold Resources will encourage ambitious Scottish companies to explore the potential of the public markets.”

10/03/2010 17:00:00