The AIM market looks set to lose its largest listed company after life science research tools supplier Abcam (ABC:AIM) said (20 July) it intends to cancel its UK listing to focus on a sole US listing.

Abcam said it will put the proposal to a shareholder vote later this year. Although only 10% of the company’s shares trade on Nasdaq, volumes have doubled since listing in October 2020, and now represent a quarter of total liquidity.

The company revolutionised the way that research scientists can source and purchase antibodies online and strong growth of the business has turned it into one of AIM’s biggest success stories.

Despite the shares trading around a fifth below all-time highs, shareholders have been richly rewarded over the years, with the shares increasing around 29-fold from their listing price in 2005.

This represents a compound annual growth rate of 22% a year excluding dividends paid along the way. Before the company suspended them during the pandemic, dividends had grown by nearly 25% a year since 2006.

If shareholders vote through the delisting, Abcam will become the latest example of the battle between the world’s largest exchanges to attract the best growth companies.

A fellow Cambridge success story, computer chip designer ARM was due to return to the London stock market before its current owner Softbank put the deal on ice due to political uncertainty.

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