Every year, a handful of South African entrepreneurs and executives decide they want to take their company to London. They’ve read the brochures. They’ve attended the roadshows. They’ve spoken to the advisors who make it sound like a logical next step for any ambitious business.
Most of them have no idea what they’re walking into.
I am not saying this to discourage anyone. I am saying it because I have been through the process – not as an advisor watching from the outside, but as a founder and CEO sitting at the table when the hard conversations happen. And there are things you will not read in any information memorandum, hear at any AIM conference, or learn from any corporate broker until you’re already committed and the fees are already spent.
This article is about those things.
—–
First, Understand What AIM Actually Is
The Alternative Investment Market is not a junior version of the main London Stock Exchange. It is a different product for a different purpose, with a different investor base, different liquidity profile, and a fundamentally different relationship between the company and the market.
AIM was designed for smaller, growth-oriented companies that need access to public capital markets without the full burden of a Main Market listing. It is regulated by a Nominated Adviser – a NOMAD – rather than by the FCA directly. That distinction matters enormously.
For South African companies, AIM has historically been attractive for three reasons: access to a deep pool of specialist small-cap investors who understand emerging market risk; the ability to list without the full compliance infrastructure required by the JSE Main Board; and the rand-hedge benefit of having equity priced in sterling.
All three of those reasons are real. None of them is as simple as the advisors make it sound.
—–
What the Brochure Doesn’t Tell You: The NOMAD Relationship
Your NOMAD is not your partner. Your NOMAD is your gatekeeper, your compliance officer, and your conscience – simultaneously. They are responsible to AIM for your company’s behaviour. Which means that when there is tension between what you want to do and what they are comfortable approving, they will almost always win.
This is not a problem if you understand it going in. It becomes a serious operational constraint if you don’t.
Here is the dynamic nobody warns South African founders about: you come from a market where the entrepreneur has significant agency. You are used to moving fast and adapting. The NOMAD relationship slows all of that down. Every material announcement, every related party transaction, every significant strategic shift requires NOMAD sign-off before it becomes public.
That discipline is valuable. It is also genuinely disorienting for operators who have never experienced it. Budget time for it. Budget patience for it. And choose your NOMAD with extreme care – because once listed, changing NOMAD is a market event in itself.
—–
The Cost Reality – Numbers They Quote and Numbers That Are True
The advisors will give you an indicative cost range for listing. Take that number. Quadruple it. That is closer to what you will actually spend. Have ethical advisors, very important!
Here is where the money goes:
NOMAD fees – both for the listing process and ongoing retained adviser fees post-listing. Non-negotiable and continuous.
Legal fees – dual jurisdiction. SA counsel and UK counsel simultaneously. They will not always agree, and reconciling their positions costs time and money.
Reporting accountant – the long-form accountant’s report required for the AIM admission document is a significant exercise. For a SA company with complex group structures, this is not a quick job.
PR and investor relations – the London market does not know who you are. An investor relations programme is not optional if you want your shares to actually trade after listing.
Ongoing compliance costs – MAR, continuous disclosure obligations, half-year and full-year reporting to UK standards. These do not stop when the listing party ends.
The total cost of getting to market – before any capital is actually raised – can easily run to R15-30 million for a mid-sized SA company. And that is before the inevitable delays that add cost to every timeline.
—–
The Investor Base – Who Actually Buys AIM Micro-Cap Shares
This is the conversation that should happen much earlier than it does.
The AIM micro-cap investor universe is smaller and more specialised than most SA founders expect. The retail investor who bought UK mining stocks in the 1990s has largely left this market. What remains is a tight community of specialist funds, family offices, and sector-focused investors – many of whom have seen every version of the “compelling African growth story” that has ever been told.
They are not cynical. They are experienced. And they will ask questions your JSE investors would never think to ask.
The practical implication: your investor relations effort must begin before you list, not after. By the time you are pricing your IPO, your cornerstone investors should already know your story. Cold outreach to London funds after the admission document is published is not a fundraising strategy – it is hope masquerading as one.
—–
The SA-Specific Complications Nobody Puts in the Brochure
Listing a South African operating company on AIM involves regulatory complexity that is genuinely underestimated by many advisors who have not done it before.
Exchange control: The SARB’s exchange control regulations govern how capital raised in London flows back to South Africa. Structure your group incorrectly, and you will face material restrictions on using the capital you just raised. Get SARB approval aligned before you list, not after.
BBBEE compliance: UK investors do not understand BBBEE. Your NOMAD does not understand BBBEE. Your UK lawyers do not understand BBBEE. You will spend a surprising amount of time explaining a regulatory framework fundamental to your SA operating licence but largely invisible in the AIM admission document. Get a specialist BBBEE advisor involved early.
Dual reporting standards: AIM requires IFRS. In practice, the application of specific standards particularly around revenue recognition, financial instruments, and related party disclosures – creates disclosure requirements your local auditors may not be experienced in handling for a UK market audience.
Time zone and governance rhythm: Your board will function across time zones. Your financial calendar will be driven by UK reporting seasons. Your investor communications must work for a London audience at London hours. For a Johannesburg-based executive team, this is a genuine operational adjustment rarely discussed.
—–
So – Should You List on AIM?
Having been through the process, my honest answer is: it depends entirely on why you want to list, and whether you are genuinely prepared for what it requires.
AIM is the right vehicle when your growth story genuinely requires more capital than the SA private market can provide; when you have a governance infrastructure that can sustain the ongoing compliance burden; when you have done the investor relations work before listing; and when your advisors have actually done this for SA companies before – not advisors learning on your transaction.
AIM is the wrong vehicle when you simply want the prestige of a London listing, when your capital needs could be met by a structured private raise, or when your business is not yet ready for the governance and disclosure disciplines public markets demand.
The London market is not a shortcut. It is an upgrade – to a different, more demanding operating environment. The companies that succeed there understood exactly what they were signing up for before they signed.
I am happy to have a direct conversation with any SA founder or executive exploring an international listing. The questions worth asking before you start are very different from the questions your advisors will ask once you’ve signed the engagement letter.
—–
Gerhardus (Gert) Viljoen is CEO of V Professional Services and founder and former CEO of Umuthi Healthcare Solutions PLC, listed on the London Stock Exchange. He specialises in distressed asset acquisition, healthcare finance, and corporate governance. He completed a BCom Financial, Accounting Honours /CTA and is a member of the Institute of Directors South Africa and SAIPA.
Follow for weekly commentary on SA corporate finance, international listings, and governance strategy.