The Quoted Companies Alliance, the independent membership organisation that champions the interests of small to mid-size quoted companies, has published today its revised guide ‘Are You Ready to Grow as a Quoted Company?’. Aimed at companies seeking admission to a public equity market, this guide describes what investors look for in small and mid-size quoted companies.
Last published in 2010, the Quoted Companies Alliance’s Are You Ready guide has been revised and updated to take into account changes to the structure and regulation of UK public equity markets. Some key changes include:
- Updating references to the UK’s public equity markets to take into account new markets;
- Adding a section on culture and communications, which emphasises the need for companies to assess whether they have the correct culture in place to be a quoted company and outlines key considerations for communication with different stakeholders; and
- Updating the quotes from major institutional investors in the guide in order to reflect current market views and sentiment.
The Quoted Companies Alliance Are You Ready guide focuses on helping companies to evaluate whether they are prepared and suitable to raise finance on a public equity market. Covering areas such as business models, characteristics of good management teams, corporate governance and liquidity, the guide describes some of the ideal attributes of a quoted company from an investors’ point of view, but does not try to prescribe strict rules on which types of companies are suitable for public equity markets.
Tim Ward, Chief Executive, The Quoted Companies Alliance, comments: “The Quoted Companies Alliance has developed this guide to help companies make the leap from a private company to a public one. With the Government focusing on how to enhance the UK’s equity markets and the recent uptick in IPO activity, ‘Are You Ready to Grow as Quoted Company?’ aims to ensure that companies considering an IPO are informed about what the market will expect of them.”
Samantha Harrison, Associate Director – Corporate Finance at RFC Ambrian and Chairman of the Quoted Companies Alliance’s Corporate Finance Expert Group, the group that led the revision of the guide, comments: “The Are You Ready guide focuses on what small and mid-size companies need to focus on in order to have a successful IPO and create growth. A company’s IPO is the start of its long-term journey on the public equity markets. This guide will help companies navigate through that journey.”
