Lisbon, 8 July 2013 – The Portuguese Stock Exchange and the Portuguese Industrial Association (AIP) are today signing a cooperation agreement for the purpose of collaborating in the development and promotion of the capital markets, and the Alternext market in particular, by combining their joint efforts, means, experience, prestige and knowledge.
Under this agreement, the Portuguese Stock Exchange will identify AIP member companies, especially Portuguese SMEs that might be interested in a simplified form of access to the capital markets in order to obtain financing, diversify their shareholder structure or arrange for securitization of their debt and, in turn, the AIP will inform its members about this financing option. Once the companies have been selected, and assuming that they meet requirements for listing on the capital markets, the Stock Exchange will support them in their preparation for the purpose by taking the necessary steps in liaison with specialist consultants.
The agreement between the two entities will also involve collaboration in the preparation and staging of meetings and introductions, or other specific individual actions and initiatives for the purpose of training in and/or generic promotion of the capital markets or geared towards the specific needs of each entity in particular, i.e. in respect of the architecture of operations geared towards listing on the NYSE Euronext markets through public offers and/or private placements of securities.
"The agreement signed today seeks to promote the capital markets associated with the subject of access to financial resources, since this is an essential factor for any company with ambitions to expand, whether by offering a wider range of products and services or by extending its geographical coverage on both the domestic market and, above all, internationally. The economic and financial circumstances which have marked the Portuguese reality have clearly demonstrated that retaining access to fundamental support for development, such as financial resources, is absolutely vital. In the case of Portugal, apart from and probably even more important than credit is the need for the capitalisation of businesses," said Luís Laginha de Sousa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NYSE Euronext Lisbon. And he added: "The capital market is an excellent alternative tool for obtaining this capitalisation and financing growth, especially for the small and medium-sized companies that play such a prominent role in the development of business in our country. When companies are listed on the Stock Exchange, they raise capital, strengthen their structure and improve their profile."
José Eduardo Carvalho, Chairman of AIP said: “We will mobilize the demand of funds for capitalization of companies and we will also require urgent regulation on it. We want to have an active role in stimulating this tool and making companies more dynamic within the capital market. It is unthinkable that the Ministry of Finance is preparing things to change the model of governance in mutual guarantee companies seeking for the merger of the existing societies. The state dominates two fundamental pillars of this system: the mutual counter guarantee fund and the Portuguese society of mutual guarantee, but it doesn’t have it in most of the management companies. It is hoped that good sense will prevail.”
This partnership constitutes another step in the creation of an ecosystem in Portugal that will encourage companies to resort to the capital markets for financing, supported by listing on a market intended specially for SMEs: Alternext. It comes a week after the launch of EnterNext in Portugal, the subsidiary created by the NYSE Euronext Group and especially geared towards assisting SMEs obtain financing in this way.
The agreement was signed this morning on the occasion of the seminar "Presentation of Capitalisation Solutions" and round table on "The need for companies to capitalise", at the AIP offices and was attended by some 70 companies.
Media Contacts:
NYSE Euronext
Sandra Machado/ Paula Cordeiro
Tel: +351 91 777 68 97/ +351 96 404 67 78
Email: PressOfficeNYSEEuronextLisbon@euronext.com
AIP
João Pedroso
Tel: +21 360 10 28/ 96 622 69 59
Email: jpedroso@aip.pt