January 2012

The head of London’s Alternative Investment Market Marcus Stuttard has called on the European Commission to use regulation to make it easier for small European businesses to raise money in London.

“If you look at the 23m small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe … 50 per cent of their finance is credit card finance, with another 48 per cent being overdraft and bank finance,” he said.

Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ff96367a-5562-11e1-9d95-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1tQpinzA4

The Middle East equity capital market (ECM) issuances recorded a 47% increase in 2011 over 2010 but investment banking fees suffered a 40% decline last year over previous year totaling $221.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters’ analysis.

The UAE was the most active regional country with $4 billion, or 39 per cent of the total $10.1 billion Middle Eastern targeting Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity during last year.Middle Eastern debt issuance reached $29.5 billion during 2011, down 20 per cent from 2010. Investment grade corporate debt accounted for 35 per cent of all Middle Eastern DCM activity in 2011.

Link: http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?col=com§ion=business&xfile=data/business/2012/January/business_January320.xml

Qannas Investments, a company managed by Abu Dhabi Capital Management (ADCM) aims to raise up to $50 million through an initial offering on AIM.

Qannas Investments is a Jersey-domiciled closed-ended investment company which involves a $200 million investment program with funds expected to be raised in four equity offerings over 3 to 4 years.

Link: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/BANK_211228.html