News

It's been an active week on the IPO front, with London continuing to attract companies from overseas, including India and Russia, as well as a healthy crop of homegrown talent.

The Indian Film Company, a new group set up to invest in the prolific £1bn Bollywood film industry, announced plans to list on AIM in the middle of May.

The firm is being backed by Raghav Bahl's Indian media giant Network 18 Group, which will take an initial 9% stake worth £5m as part of a fundraising that hopes to bag £55m in total.

If all goes to plan the company will invest in around 40 mainstream films a year, although a move into the lucrative regional market is expected later.

The group has already committed to spend around £22m on 14 film projects. A Bollywood film can cost anything between £1m and £7m to make, although the average is about £2.5m.

Russia-focused real estate company AFI Development got off a buoyant start in first dealings after strong demand for its shares meant the issue was priced well above its indicative range.

AFI, 71% owned by Israeli firm Africa Israel Investments, priced the GDRs at $14 each, compared with an initial price range of $10 to $13, valuing the group at $7.3bn. The shares started brightly, but eased back to settle at $12.80.

Hargreaves Lansdown set the indicative offer price range for its main market listing later this month at 140p-160p per share, valuing the investment management firm at £711m at the middle of the range.

The group said the offer size of 118.6m shares, which consists of 25% of the existing share capital, implies gross proceeds of around £178m at the mid-point.

Chartered accountants Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, who founded the Bristol-based outfit in 1981, are set to pocket a huge windfall as they sell a quarter of their 40% stakes. No new capital will be raised as part of the offer.

NetDimensions began trading on AIM today after raising £3m, valuing the software publisher at £15.22m.

The shares reached a high of 72.5p early on day one, but the price was soon marked lower, leaving the shares changing hands for around 65p.

The group said that net proceeds of about £2.32m will be used to increase sales and marketing capabilities, to provide additional working capital and for product development.