Bird & Bird today announces that its Corporate team has advised Frontier Developments plc on its admission to trading on AIM.

Frontier is a leading independent developer of video games with studios in Cambridge, UK and Halifax, Canada and will have a market capitalisation of £40 million on admission.

In June 2013 Frontier completed a successful Pre-IPO fundraising of £2.8 million through the issue of the Convertible Notes and new Ordinary Shares. They are now proposing to raise a further £4 million through a placing of the Placing Shares by Canaccord.

Bird & Bird has been acting for Frontier since May 2012 and was appointed by the Directors to take the company through the fund raising and AIM admission process. The flotation of Frontier follows a number of other public company transactions the Corporate team has advised on over the last few months for existing AIM quoted clients including Earthport Plc, Motivcom Plc and Mercom Oil Sands Plc.

Simon Fielder, partner, Bird & Bird said: "There has, over the last couple of months, been a pick-up in both IPO activity and just as importantly funds raised on AIM compared to the last couple of years. We have seen an increase in listing enquiries from our clients and contacts, particularly in the TMT space who again are viewing an AIM admission as a real option to raise capital and provide acquisition currency to aid their expansion.

"Bird & Bird has significant experience working with clients on AIM as well as a deep knowledge of the interactive entertainment sector and as such we were well placed to help Frontier. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Frontier as they expand and develop."

David Braben, founder and CEO, Frontier said: “We have been exceptionally pleased by the advice and support that we have received from the team at Bird & Bird. Their expertise in technology combined with their experience in dealing with AIM made them a natural fit for us."

“Frontier’s listing, along with the funding we secured earlier this year, will support our efforts to further enhance the capabilities of our Cobra technology platform as the expansion of games into the mainstream entertainment industry and advent of digital distribution provide significant opportunity to generate further growth."

The Bird & Bird team was comprised of Simon Fielder, Simon Shooter, Ciara Thompson, and Astrid de Longvilliers.