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NZAX market targets small-cap companies
The NZAX Alternative Market, or NZAX, is due to launch in November, offering small to medium sized companies many of the benefits of a New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) listing without all of the compliance, cost and size requirements.
The new market is targeting small to medium-sized fast growth companies that want to raise new capital or to move away from their founding structure to a broader ownership model.
Listing benefits also include increased liquidity for existing shareholders and the flexibility to issue share options.
The NZAX replaces the New Zealand Stock Exchange's existing New Capital Market and the unlisted market which will disappear once the new market opens.
An NZAX listing is likely to be a cost-effective option for companies with:
- a minimum of 50 shareholders
- an established board
- a history of audited accounts
- a solid track record of positive cash flows and earnings
The exchange believes that the NZAX may be ideally suited to companies in the technology, biotechnology, wine and food, and manufacturing and business services sectors.
The NZX has submitted draft NZAX Listing Rules to the Securities Commission for review, and if regulatory approval is received by August, the NZX will start accepting NZAX listing applications in September for trading in November 2003.
The exchange believes that planning, applying and preparing for an NZAX listing could take between three and five months.
Further information about the NZAX is available online at the exchange website, www.nzx.com.
Thinking of listing?
We will keep you up to date as NZAX plans progress. If you are interested in learning more about an NZAX listing, we can advise you.
Bell Gully has been involved in developing the NZAX listing rules and is now advising on one of the market's first listings.
Combined with our experience in capital raisings, main board listings and exchange compliance procedures, we are ideally placed to advise you on all aspects of an NZAX listing.
Contacts
For further information, please contact Brynn Gilbertson, David Flacks or Clive Taylor in Auckland, or Mark Freeman in Wellington.
Disclaimer
This publication is necessarily brief and general in nature. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication.
