Gan (LON:GAN): I’ll remember this one for a while. Another addition to my ‘what could have been’ list.
The stock was chugging along very nicely on AIM, rising from around 50p in 2018, to the 100p–200p range last year. I jumped on at 132p and it quickly became pretty much my highest conviction stock.
Then coronavirus came along and I jettisoned my entire portfolio at the beginning of March. This saved me from some very nasty paper losses, which I’m sure I would have crystallised at lower levels, if I’d held on longer. GAN hit 69p, so getting out at 160p was a great move.
Still, those RNS announcements about a move to the Nasdaq exchange continued to trickle through. That’s bound to be good for the stock, I thought. The Americans love a growth company, and the story is great (GAN is at the forefront of the legalisation of gambling across the US). But I’m meant to be keeping my powder dry for now. I can buy back in later, when the markets are more settled.
Well.
The last recorded price for GAN’s UK listing on Stockopedia was 225p on 4 May. The StockReport from 2 May tells me it was valued at £200m. That was in itself a new all-time high: the average market cap being closer to £150m in the six months before delisting.
It opened on the Nasdaq at an IPO price of $8.50. UK shareholders were given 1 US share for every 4 UK shares they held. It closed that day at $11.40 and is now hitting $28, for a market cap of £650m.
Two months ago, the UK market valued this company at £200m.
Today, the US market values this same company at £650m.
It does make you wonder why growth companies would bother listing on the UK market, when the US or private equity backers may provide much higher valuations, and probably more in the way of fresh capital injections. We’re all aware of AIM stocks which come to market repeatedly, just to see their share prices ebb away to penny status.
I’m not sure whom it reflects more poorly on, however. GAN has revenue of around £25m, so a £650m valuation?! Seems almost nuts, to be frank.
Then again, I was on a webinar the other day, which showed the UK All-Share market has returned 65% since 2012, while…
