POLAND - Warsaw Stock Exchange intends to challenge London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) as the destination for property firm flotations.
Its claim follows the announcement last week from XXI Investments, a Ukrainian property developer, stating it plans to list in Warsaw after an earlier London listing.
Warsaw Stock Exchange spokesman Marcin Przeszlowski said the bourse, which currently lists just 14 overseas companies from a total of 307, would target planned single listings, with the aim of becoming the regional market for property operations.
"We want to position Warsaw as the financial centre for Central and Eastern Europe," said Przeszlowski.
"Warsaw is closer culturally and geographically, and it's cheaper to list here."
Unable to compete on liquidity with Europe’s main stock exchanges in London and Frankfurt, the Polish bourse will target IPOs of firms unable to meet the regulatory requirements for a London listing.
In a press statement, the exchange suggested Warsaw offered access to sufficient capital in return for lower entry costs and light-touch regulation.
"We want to attract companies that aren't able to reach [London’s] higher IPO requirements," said Przeszlowski.
"The Warsaw Stock Exchange may not be as liquid as London but, with €500m traded daily in equities, we're doing quite well," he added.
Representatives of AIM were unavailable for comment.
