New subsidiary is dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises
Lisbon – 2 July 2013– Today NYSE Euronext (NYX) is presenting EnterNext®,its new subsidiary dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to the Portuguese financial community. The initiative’s origin and goals will be discussed, together with the challenges companies face in securing financing suited to their growth and international expansion strategies.
Also attending the EnterNext®presentation in Lisbon was the Portuguese Secretary of State for Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Innovation, Franquelim Alves, who closed the event.
“As the newly-appointed head of EnterNext® with responsibility for all of the activities and resources we make available to SMEs at European level, I am absolutely delighted at today’s opportunity to meet the Portuguese financial community. In the future, I hope that we will be able to take a thorough, wide-ranging look at company financing and simultaneously contribute to the success of this new initiative”, said Eric Forest, CEO of EnterNext®.
“For SMEs, finding suitable financing is a huge challenge, not only at the present time but also for the future. EnterNext®is being launched to help meet this challenge, and represents a rise in NYSE Euronext Group’s resources and greater involvement by the ecosystem. EnterNext®’s goal is also to position the Stock Exchange as a source for alternative financing ”, added Luís Laginha de Sousa, CEO of NYSE Euronext Lisbon.
EnterNext® is dedicated to companies with market capitalisations under €1 billion and already covers over 750 SMEs listed on the NYSE Euronext regulated market and on NYSE Alternext. With a bold strategy and NYSE Euronext’s proven capacity to deliver, it has been designed to facilitate the financing requirements and development of European SMEs to enable them to do business regionally, nationally and internationally.
Governance
EnterNext® has adopted an open governance structure with a 15-member Board of Directors headed by Eric Forest, its newly appointed CEO. The remaining 14 seats are divided equally between qualified external Directors and NYSE Euronext. Candidates have been selected from the four countries in which the group operates in Europe, based on their experience and expertise with SMEs.
The seven qualified external Directors are:
- Charles Beigbeder, Chairman, Gravitation
- Jorge Freire Cardoso, CEO of Caixa Banco de Investimento[i]
- Koen Dejonckheere, CEO, Gimv
- Louis Godron, Chairman, AFIC
- Sophie Langlois, Deputy CEO, BIL Finance
- Jean-François Roubaud, Chairman, CGPME
- Chris van Schuppen, Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets, ABN AMRO
The seven Directors representing NYSE Euronext are:
- Roland Bellegarde, Group EVP, European Equities and Equity derivative
- Lee Hodgkinson, Head of Sales and Client Coverage, EMEA
- Luis Laginha, Chairman and CEO, NYSE Euronext Lisbon
- Marc Lefèvre, Head of European Business Development and Client Coverage, European Corporate Client Group
- Vincent Van Dessel, Chairman and CEO, NYSE Euronext Brussels
- Cees Vermaas, Chairman and CEO, NYSE Euronext Amsterdam
- Diederik Zandstra, Head of European Corporate Client Group