Taking your company public

A central issue when considering taking your company public is the decision on the stock market. Wiener Börse offers a number of advantages which benefit both companies and investors. The Viennese stock market meets a number of criteria which are a prerequisite for optimizing the initial public offering.

• Liquidity
  It must be possible to sell the shares at any time.This is a fundamental demand of investors who are considering investing in a market or in a stock. With the introduction of the new market segmentation now in place on Wiener Börse, a concept was created that established the optimal conditions for trading in securities in line with international standards. The new market segmentation foresees specialists who act as a type of super market maker and are obligated to enter firm buy and sell quote into the system on a permanent basis. The ATX market or specialist market lists only stocks for which specialists or market makers have committed themselves to ensure liquidity in the stock. This has created a system, which makes the stocks listed on the principal segment of Wiener Börse tradable at all times.
• International standards
  By adopting the fully electronic trading system, Xetra ®, developed by Deutsche Börse on November 1999, another major step forward was taken toward the internationalization of the financial marketplace of Vienna. Since 1999, all trading participants in the Xetra ® system worldwide have had the technical possibility of trading stocks listed on Wiener Börse directly. This enlargement of the potential group of investors has brought additional liquidity to the market and has positioned Wiener Börse and its listed companies in an international context.
• Know your investors
  The domestic market offers companies the option of benefiting from the local investor base who knows Austrian companies and their future prospects well.This familiarity of investors is a significant advantage when issuing shares.
• Stricter reporting and disclosure requirements
  The initial public offering is not the last time that a company has an opportunity to be in the limelight of public attention. After the listing, the company is subject to a number of disclosure and reporting requirements such as the publication of annual reports, quarterly reports and ad hoc reports on financial news, which it can use to present itself to the public. This higher recognition and an open communication policy are competitive advantages from the perspective of customers, suppliers and banks. A stock exchange listing is also an opportunity to win highly qualified staff for management positions.
• Marketing activities
  Wiener Börse is a service-oriented organization that listens to its customers and offers listed companies a chance to benefit from its extensive marketing activities. The program runs the gamut from events in Austria to roadshows at Europe’s major financial marketplaces. These are just some of the ways to raise investor interest in advance of an IPO and to attain the best possible results. Wiener Börse is your guarantee for advice and support specific to your companies needs throughout the entire listing procedures and also after the listing.