easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s ambitions for a successful public offering of his easyHotel business have been dented, after the discount hotel chain fell well short of its fundraising target.

Weakening investor sentiment saw the company raise roughly £30m ahead of its debut on London’s alternative investment market (AIM), despite outlining in May hopes to attract up to £60m to fund expansion.

The lack of appetite for Haji-Ioannou’s first IPO since he took easyJet to market 14 years ago comes as a surprise given the recent hive of activity surrounding leisure-based offerings.

Following Merlin’s IPO at the back end of last year, Prestbury Investments – the property company which owns a number of Merlin’s real estate portfolio floated on AIM at the beginning of June. In the meantime, ears were pricked by the latest speculation in the long-running saga over whether Virgin Active will go public, with a £1bn-plus deal apparently in the offing.

Trading in easyHotel is expected to start on 30 June under the ticker ‘EZH’.

Commenting on the company’s admission to AIM yesterday, Haji-Ioannou said: “The transparency and scrutiny of the public markets will also allow me to step back from the company and enable me to focus on continuing my diversification strategy into other business and philanthropic activities. I anticipate I will remain a significant and supportive shareholder for a very long time."

The chain – which is fully-owned by easyGroup Holdings – was launched in 2004 and has 20 hotels, 17 of which operate as franchises. Seven of these are in London, with two more in Scotland and the remainder spread across Europe, Johannesburg and Dubai.

It is one of the many businesses under Haji-Ioannou’s "easy" brand, including companies such as easyGym.