Floating on a stock market: your options

Prepare for a flotation

In preparing for a flotation you must ensure your business complies with the legal and regulatory standards required of a public limited company.

You need to ensure that your annual accounts and reports comply with the generally accepted accounting principles of the London Stock Exchange.

It's important that your business complies with all the rules and regulations of the market you are joining, whether this is PLUS, Alternative Investment Market (AIM) or the Stock Exchange Main Market.

You can download the rules of PLUS from the PLUS website (PDF, 216K) - Opens in a new window. Alternatively, you can download the rules of AIM from the London Stock Exchange website (PDF, 1.35MB) - Opens in a new window.

You can find out the rules of the Stock Exchange Main Market on the London Stock Exchange website - Opens in a new window.

Your business also needs to have the right legal structure. Sole traders and partnerships can't float - only companies.

You will also have to make the following key information available:

• who the directors are and what service contracts they have with the company
• who the major shareholders are and details of the new and existing shares being offered for sale
• information on the company's key contracts
• the memorandum and articles of association

For more information on AIM, download the guide to AIM from the Baker Tilly website (PDF, 144K) - Opens in a new window.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Is your business suitable for flotation?
• What is a flotation and why consider it?
• Advantages and disadvantages of flotation
• Choose the right market
• Appoint your advisers
• Prepare for a flotation
• Price your business' flotation
• The flotation process
• Here's how we prepared our business for flotation

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