Six firms from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are planning to list on London's Plus Markets Group's primary and secondary exchanges this year.

The firms talking to the bourse are in different sectors including financial institutions, land and agriculture, with some coming from the UAE and Kuwait.

Despite the equity markets being still at historic lows, there is now an uptake in demand to go public due to the regional firms' desire to increase international visibility, boost transparency and establish frameworks needed to conduct acquisitions.

"There are many reasons why companies come to market. It is not just for fund-raising. In this region, it is more about profile," Simon Brickles, CEO of Plus Markets Group, told Emirates Business.

"If they get a quotation in London, people get better terms with the supplier, good loans with the banks and it also helps them because some of these companies want to make acquisitions and London paper is a lot more acceptable in different regions," he said.

Plus Markets is one of two principal institutions that provides public markets for equity securities in the UK, in addition to the London Stock Exchange.

Plus operates two primary markets – 'Plus listed' and 'Plus-quoted offerings', which is challenged by the dearth of companies.

Its second primary market is called the 'Plus-quoted' market, currently home to 172 companies, with a combined market capitalisation of about £2.3 billion (Dh12.57bn). Most companies have market cap of about £5m to £10m but a number of larger companies are quoted on this market, including Arsenal Football Club and the pub operator, Shepherd Neame.

To fuel growth, it launched initiatives last year to internationalise its markets and has started to promote itself in the Far East and in the GCC. Around a quarter of the issuers quoted on Plus Markets are either overseas companies or operate mainly overseas, including some recent joiners with a Middle East and North Africa focus.

The bourse is luring medium and smaller firms and family businesses to trade on its platform by providing flexible rules. Brickles said the bourse does not mandate how much of the company should be traded in the market nor does it set heavy criteria regarding the number of directors.

"It is a disclosure-based approach rather than trying to dictate to a company how to run its business," he said.

He said they prefer companies to have a local quotation first but if the local criteria prevent the firms from doing so, a listing without public offering is also allowed. "You can list without offering or you can do an offering before or after you come to the market, we welcome that," he said.

"As a general rule we encourage dual listings but there may be particular reasons why the company can't do that. For example, some stock exchanges in the region require three years' profitability and sometimes you have restrictions on getting foreign ownership, so there may be reasons why a company is not suited to a regional market," he added.

Plus Markets is 18 per cent owned by Amara Dhari Investments Limited, formed by a group of Middle Eastern investors, comprising mostly Kuwait nationals.

Two of the bourse's non-executive directors are from the region – Hisham S Al Otaibi, former Kuwait Minister of Commerce and Industry, member of the Kuwait Supreme Petroleum Council and director of the Kuwait Stock Exchange; and Ahmed Al Asfour, who is Chairman and CEO of Ritaj Insurance Company.