A new route to AIM listings; PrimePartners will partner UK's SP bank

Singapore-based financial services group PrimePartners Corporate Finance (PPCF) has tied up with British investment bank and stockbroker, Seymour Pierce (SP) to target Asian companies wanting to list on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

The joint venture taps the growing popularity of the 12-year-old AIM, preferred by smaller companies of late over Nasdaq, due to the voluminous paperwork required by the United States' Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the US bourse.

Said Mr Keith Harris, SP's executive chairman yesterday: "AIM has become more attractive and has increasingly replaced New York as the listing place for non-US companies."

To join AIM, companies do not need a particular financial track record or trading history. There is also no minimum requirement in terms of size or number of shareholders. Commenting on the tie-up yesterday, PPCF said it would conduct due diligence. It has

55 corporate finance professionals in South-east Asia and China.

SP, as the adviser, will also do part of the due diligence and take responsibility for the listing.

The joint venture is keen to attract companies from the Asia Pacific, especially from

China.

The partnership already has two Chinese mid-sized companies with profits of US$9

million ($13.8 million) and US$17 million waiting to list.

Of the 1,650 companies listed on AIM, 45 are Chinese firms, compared to 26 a year ago. The joint-venture partners also have their own respective index to track the performance of China firms: The 25-stock PrimePartners China Index and 45-stock Seymour Pierce AIM China Index.

PPCF is part of the wider PrimePartners financial and business services group whose major shareholders include SGX chief Hsieh Fu Hua. - Chow Penn Nee