FESE and EuropeanIssuers in cooperation with the European Commission (DG GROW) are delighted to announce the winners of the 4 th European Small and Mid-Cap Awards.
The Awards were set up to highlight the best European Small and Mid-Sized Companies that have gained access to capital markets via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). These four companies, were chosen from amongst a very high standard of entries from across Europe.
The winners of the four awards are:
- International Star 2016: Gränges, a Swedish company that is a leading global supplier of rolled products for brazed aluminium heat exchangers. They develop, produce and market advanced materials that enhance efficiency in the customer manufacturing process and the performance of the final products, brazed heat exchangers. Gränges is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm
- Rising Star 2016: Oncodesign, a French biotechnology company that maximises the pharmaceutical industry’s chances of success in discovering new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known effective treatment. Oncodesign is listed on Euronext Paris
- Star of Innovation 2016: Immunovia AB, a Swedish company that aims at deciphering the wealth of information in blood and translate it into clinically useful tools to diagnose complex diseases such as cancer, earlier and more accurately than previously possible. Immunovia AB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm
- Star of 2016: Applegreen, an Irish company that is the number one motorway service area operator in the Republic of Ireland, where it has a motor fuel market share of approximately 12%. Applegreen is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange Dublin
The Federation of European Securities, EuropeanIssuers and the European Commission are proud to have established these annual Awards together.
Deirdre Somers, President of FESE said: “The Awards are an excellent opportunity to allow exchanges to focus on what is important to the economy overall – the companies. Exchanges are dedicated to supporting small and mid-cap companies in helping them fulfil their funding requirements by supporting them through the IPO process. The companies nominated for these Awards serve as an example of the positive benefits that can be gained from equity financing.”
Luc Vansteenkiste, Chairman of EuropeanIssuers said: “Efficient capital markets help quoted companies grow. Thanks to proper financing, these companies can invest long term in research and development, new facilities and new jobs. Therefore we strongly believe that these markets are crucial to fuel the economy and create wealth. Today ‘s awards ceremony highlights the best European small and mid-sized companies having gone through an Initial Public Offering. Candidates came from different sectors and countries around Europe. We are pleased to recognise their performance and optimism in the future particularly in the current uncertain environment.”
Irmfried Schwimann, Deputy Director General of DG GROW added: “Creating growth and jobs is the key priority of the European Commission. We need a vibrant and innovative SME community to achieve this. However, access to finance remains one of the biggest problems for SMEs. Therefore, the Commission has recently enforced its efforts to foster capital market access for SMEs. The Capital Markets Union project and the upcoming Start-up and Scale-up Initiative demonstrate our commitment. This fourth edition of the European Small- and Mid-Cap Awards is a joyful moment. It shows the quality, ingenuity and ambition of enterprises we have in Europe. We take this as a reassurance that, together with our SME community and dedicated partners such as EuropeanIssuers and FESE, we can achieve so much more if we properly implement the measures we have now designed.”
About FESE
The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) represents 36 exchanges in equities, bonds, derivatives and commoditiesthrough 20 full membersfrom 30 countries, as well as one Affiliate Member and one Observer Member. For further information please visit www.fese.eu.
About EuropeanIssuers European
Issuers is a pan-European organisation representing the interests of publicly quoted companies across Europe to the EU Institutions. We seek capital marketsthatserve the interests oftheir end users, including issuers. For more information, please visit www.europeanissuers.eu.
About the European Commission
The Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission develops and implements a range of policies to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU. SMEs are critical to European economic recovery and to accomplishing the EU’s goals of job creation, competitiveness and growth. For more information, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/growth/access-to-finance_en.
Source: The European Commission