US junior Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) has started treading its shares on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), after setting its sight on the listing last year.

Alabama-based DGO has officially started dealing on Friday after raising $50 million with blue chip institutional investors, $10 million more than it originally targeted.

This represents the largest oil and gas flotation in London since oil prices started to fall in mid-2014.

The 2001-founded company set its sights on an AIM listing in late 2016, aiming to speed up growth and bring the UK market "compelling opportunities". This listing takes DGO’s market capitalisation to $86.4 million, with shares in the company being priced at 65 pence.

DGO opted to list in London and raise capital on AIM to expand because the US has no comparable junior market with a focus on growth companies, it said.

"DGO represents a good way for UK investors to play the growing US gas market. Assets are low-risk, low-cost and generate free cash flow down to $9.50 barrels of oil equivalent," the company said.

The company is focused on the prolific Appalachian basin in North Eastern US across the neighbouring states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, where it operates 7500 oil and gas wells, producing around 4700 barrels of oil equivalent, with 27.9 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven reserves.

Moving forward, DGO said it will continue to actively screen acquisitions. It is already in talks over "several different assets", chief executive Rusty Hutson told Upstream, without providing further details.

"These are likely to be complementary to the existing portfolio –similar geography and plays. We have a proven track record for acquiring assets at compelling valuations and enhancing them so will continue to do this going forward subject to market conditions," DGO said.

"The Appalachian basin is definitely the near-term focus. It is a vast, highly prolific and provides lots of growth opportunities for DGO".

In its most recent deal, last April, the company acquired approximately 1300 conventional natural gas and oil wells in Ohio, in addition to equipment, from Eclipse Resources in a $4.8 million deal.

This was followed in June by a $3.55 million deal to acquire 2200 conventional natural gas and oil wells, in addition to pipeline assets, located in Pennsylvania from Seneca Resources.

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DGO gets AIM listing