The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) will launch AeRO, its alternative trading system for small and medium-sized enterprises, on 25 February 2015.
The announcement comes after the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority approved regulation around the alternative trading on 10 December. There will now be a dedicated market index for trading shares in AeRO listed companies.
Ludwik Sobolewski, CEO of BVB, said: “During this launch we will have companies debuting. Hence, February 25 will also be a significant date for the investors: those who will invest their money into debuting companies and those who will have the possibility to buy and sell the shares starting from the first day of listing.”
“As the launch of the AeRO will be the breakthrough with respect to the development of the capital market, our efforts to enhance the project will only intensify with time. We are launching a creative design for this new SMEs market, which is a challenge that requires business intelligence, competence and experience”
AeRO is designed to help early-stage companies to finance their projects and growth, increase visibility at a national and international level, and to help develop their business environment. Companies will be able to access capital necessary for growth, with amounts varying from a few hundred thousand Romanian leu (RON) to several million.
In this way, companies can apply market value to their businesses. They will also be subject to BVB’s transparency requirements, leading to greater trust between companies, their customers and business partners alike.
The criteria to be listed will include the obligation to appoint an official authorised advisor who will support issuers before their listing debut and throughout the process.
Companies will also have to have an anticipated market capitalisation of at least €250,000, either through a private placement, an initial public offering or based on the performance of the authorised advisor. They will have to have a free-float of 10 percent, or have 30 or more shareholders, and they will have to issue an informal document detailing the companies’ line of business and latest financial statements.
Sobolewski said: “We are currently working on creating a new legend of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. We first need to build the market, and then work on our competitiveness. The Polish market is currently the star of the region but we want to make this CEE market more colourful and attractive to the investors.”
“We have this ambition to add Romania to this picture, to make the CEE space more competitive. Our goal is to improve domestic market and then to build our presence on international scene.”
