MIFA Mitteldeutsche Fahrradwerke AG became Germany’s first initial public offering of 2004, listing in the General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) on Monday.
The announcement was made by Deutsche Brse which operates the FWB. MIFA’s shares were initially priced at EUR9.30.
“MIFA’s IPO underlines the significance of equity financing via the stock exchange as a financing option for smaller and medium-sized enterprises”, said Rudolf Ferscha, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Brse AG. “Deutsche Brse provides companies with efficient access to a wide investing community, thereby generating attractive financing and investment alternatives for companies and investors. We welcome MIFA as a new issuer and the first company to go public in General Standard”, Ferscha added.
According to the company’s own figures the Sangerhausen (Saxony-Anhalt)-based bicycle maker, MIFA AG, employed an average of 422 staff in fiscal year 2003 and produced about 535,000 bicycles for the German and European market. MIFA’s IPO was managed by Merck Finck & Co as the lead manager and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thringen Girozentrale as joint lead manager. Seydler AG will function as designated sponsor for MIFA.
Issuers can choose between two clearly defined segments for the admission of their shares to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange – Prime Standard and General Standard. Statutory transparency requirements apply in General Standard which is suited for companies that primarily target domestic investors and prefer a less costly listing. A listing in Prime Standard requires adherence to international transparency standards and is tailored to companies who wish to attract global investors.
There are currently around 360 companies listed in Prime Standard and around 490 (including MIFA) in General Standard, a spokesman for Deutsche Borse said.