Accountant UHY Hacker Young reports that the value of takeovers of AIM-quoted companies jumped by 32% last year with appetite for fast-growing fintech, technology and financial services targets driving the increase.

It found that a large number of AIM takeovers in 2019 were driven by overseas acquirers snapping up valuable strategic acquisitions.

Last year saw the value of AIM takeovers increase from £2.18bn to £2.88bn. These included payment services play Earthport being picked off by Visa for £205m while mobile advertising provider RhythmOne was bought by rival Taptica, now known as Tremor International (TRMR:AIM), for £225m.

However, the numbers were also boosted by a rebound in the value of oil and gas company M&A, which topped £1bn in 2019.

UHY Hacker Young’s Laurence Sacker says the figures show AIM works well as an incubator of tech and fintech companies. ‘Tech companies listed on AIM do attract supportive shareholders and allow founders and shareholders to exit at attractive valuations. There is no need for tech companies to stay private for them to achieve that.

‘Acquisitive businesses worldwide are now much more aware of AIM’s reputation as a growth platform for quality tech and fintech companies.’

In terms of takeover numbers, AIM actually outperformed London’s Main Market. While the volume of M&A deals on the latter fell 18% to 18 transactions in 2019, AIM takeovers held steady at 27 in both 2019 and 2018.

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