Third firm lists on AIM alternative with market capital of $185m

Lovells has advised IRF European Investment on this year's first listing on the Specialist Fund Market (SFM), with a market capital of $185m (£133m).

The deal makes IRF the third company to list on the SFM, which was established in November 2007 as an option to London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for investment funds and their investors.

IRF, which was previously listed on AIM and invests primarily in financial instit-utions based in the southeast of Europe, has been a Lovells client since 2006.

The top 10 City firm fielded a team on the listing led by corporate partner Stephanie Keen alongside investment funds partner Erik Jamieson, with London-based US capital markets partner Katherine Mulhern and New York tax partner Jason Kaplan advising on US securities issues.

Keen told Legal Week: "IRF looked at the SFM and decided that the market was the right one to move to, not only for the benefit of its shareholders, but also to provide the appropriate platform from which to operate once the economy picks up.

"One of the main attractions to them was that the SFM affords a more flexible approach to regulation than AIM."

IRF joins Da Vinci Invest and Marwyn Value Investors on the SFM. The new market, which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority and the European Union, is more flexible than the main market because a company listing does not need to comply with the FSA's listing rules.

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