Is London's AIM the New Nasdaq? Not Yet.

Usually, biopharma firms in Europe that are struggling to raise money turn to the US, either for a listing or re-location, or for both. So the decision by California-based Entelos Inc. to float not at home but on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), where it recently raised $20 million, highlights an interesting counter current. [See Deal] It also fueled the enthusiasm of some London-based bankers and analysts who increasingly see London's 10-year-old junior market for high-growth, small-to-mid-cap companies as, if not a Nasdaq-in-waiting, then certainly the most likely exchange to rival it. Some say AIM will eventually become the pan-European exchange that others such as Euronext (the combined Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam markets), Nasdaq Europe, and Easdaq have tried but failed to achieve. (See "Easdaq: Fighting for a Lost Cause?" START-UP, January 2001 Also see "EASDAQ: Fighting for a Lost Cause?" - Scrip, 1 January, 2001..)

The statistics are indeed compelling. The total market capitalization of AIM-listed companies (which span all sectors) has increased by 80% in the last 12 months, with 23 IPOs in January...