Deutsche Borse and KfW Mittelstandsbank have opened the fall event of the German Equity Forum in Frankfurt am Main. The forum, which is Europe’s largest capital market event for equity financing and is already celebrating its 10th anniversary, will run until 29 November 2006.
“In strategic terms, it is becoming more and more important that companies are able to acquire equity financing so that they can exploit business opportunities, such as innovation financing and globalization”, says Reto Francioni, the CEO of Deutsche Borse. “Equity financing plays a key role in growth financing.”
“Germany’s small and medium-sized companies need a stronger equity culture”, adds Ingrid Matthus-Maier, a spokeswoman of the Board of Managing Directors of the KfW Banking Group. “Looking at how we compare to other countries across the globe, we really have to catch up”.
The fall event of this year’s Forum will feature a specialist forum for REITs, and will also focus on China, Russia and Ukraine. Deutsche Borse and KfW Mittelstandsbank have been organising the German Equity Forum twice annually since 1996. The fall event is oriented towards companies in the later stages of financing, as well as listed companies, whereas the spring event focuses on the early stage field.