Plus500 Raises $75 million in Placing of Shares

In the midst of the positive performance shown by FX brokers this year, Plus500, a European CFD broker regulated under MiFID announced its plans to list the firm on London's AIM Market earlier this month (1st July). The company is expected to commence trading from the 24th of July and according to a press release issued by the firm, the firm says its market value on admission is expected to be around US$200 million. This comes on the back of the firm raising $75 million via the placing of US$25 million new and US$50 million. In addition, the broker announced that ordinary shares were placed at 115p, and the placement saw strong demand from institutional investors.

Gal Haber, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented in the official briefing:"We are delighted with the strong level of support from institutional investors which is testament to our future prospects. The Placing and subsequent admission to AIM will support our business as we seek to deliver on our growth plans.

We believe that we have built an attractive and scalable business, underpinned by the Group's proprietary technology and self-developed Trading Platform . We are excited at the opportunity to grow our business further and we look forward to enhancing Shareholder value."

The IPO club

Plus500 will join listed UK CFD brokers such as IG and London Capital Group. One of the UK's top three spread betting and CFD brokers, CMC Markets, has been due to float in London since 2006, however due to general economic conditions the IPO hasn't taken place.

Bankrupt spread betting firm, WorldSpreads, was listed on AIM in 2007, at the time of floatation the firm was valued at £19 million raising £5.77 million through a placing at 47p a share.

Forex Magnates contacted Liberum Capital Limited, Plus500's adviser for a comment about the IPO, however the firm has yet to respond.

International FX brokers FXCM and Gain Capital are listed in New York.