LONDON (Alliance News) - Formal wear tailoring company Bagir Group Ltd became the latest company to begin trading on the AIM market Tuesday, amid a flurry of new initial public offerings since the beginning of 2014.
The company raised GBP20.0 million in its initial placing, at a price of 56 pence, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP28.1 million. Just ahead of the afternoon session, the stock trades at 60 pence per share.
Bagir will use the funds raised to pay back debt and provide working capital for its strategy to invest in its Ethiopian production facility and its IT and research and development departments.
It will trade on the AIM market under BAGR. N+1 Singer Advisory LLP was the company's nominated adviser and broker.
Bagir has a 12.5% market share in the UK by value of items sold, it said, with its two major customers being Marks & Spencer PLC and Arcadia Group Ltd.
It posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around USD6.1 million for 2013, and revenue of USD99.5 million.
With investor confidence beginning to return after years of uncertainty after the financial crisis of 2008, the market has seen increasing numbers of companies raising capital in 2014.
Last Friday Exova Group PLC, Polypipe Group PLC, and Cambian Group PLC floated on the London Stock Exchange's main market, bringing the total number of IPOs on the market to 14 since the beginning of the year.
On the smaller AIM market, 19 companies have now launched initial public offerings since the start of 2014, including online clothing retailer BooHoo.com.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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