RAB Capital, the beleaguered hedge fund manager, announced this morning its plans to de-list from the Alternative Investment Market on the London Stock Exchange and offered to buy out investors, the culmination of a catalogue of problems to afflict the company since 2008 when plunging markets and investors pulling cash shrank its assets under management to $1.87bn from $7.2bn in 12 months.

Financial News revealed exclusively in February 2004 that RAB was planning to float, and the firm listed on AIM the following month. Founding shareholders Michael Alen-Buckley and Philip Richards made a paper profit of nearly £25m each in just five days, following the success of their share offering. Shares were priced by adviser KBC Peel Hunt at 25p for the market debut, which saw the company initially valued at £85.6m on the strength of the original issue price.