By Lars Mucklejohn
US healthcare group Aoti has raised £35.1m from its initial public offering (IPO) on London’s AIM sub-market, which it said will give it a market capitalisation of roughly £140m.
The firm, also known as Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc, announced on Tuesday that it had successfully raised £19.5m in gross proceeds through a placing of 14,772,918 newly-issued common shares at a price of 132p per share.
It added that it raised £15.6m for certain selling shareholders through the placing of 11,818,336 existing common shares at the same price.
Trading of the company’s common shares on AIM is due to commence at 8am on Tuesday under the ticker “AOTI”.
Aoti said it would use the money raised from its IPO for the continued expansion of its sales team in the US and opening up new territories to sell its products while also repaying its existing financial debt.
The California-based company was founded in 2004 and claims its woundcare technology reduces the need for amputations in patients by more than two-thirds.
Although a modest flotation on the capital’s junior Alternative Investment Market, Aoti’s IPO will come as a boost to the flagging London Stock Exchange, which has been hit by a dearth of big-ticket listings and firms moving abroad in recent times. Raspberry Pi’s London IPO was also cheered on by City grandees last week.
AIM allows entrepreneurial companies to float shares with more flexible criteria on aspects like a minimum free float, whereas the LSE’s premium market has stricter requirements on revenue and is the only way to gain entry to the FTSE index.
Mike Griffiths, Aoti’s chief executive, said on Tuesday: “The board believes that Aoti has all of the building blocks in place to secure expanded market access and commercialisation of our TWO Therapy and to continue the staged roll-out of the NEXA NPWT System, the company’s independently differentiated wound care platforms.”
