Lisbon - 15 April 2013 – NYSE Euronext Lisbon, the Portuguese Stock Exchange, has recently signed a protocol of cooperation and partnership with NERLEI-Associação Empresarial da Região de Leiria (Entrepreneurial Association of the Leiria Region) aiming to draw new companies to the Exchange, namely to the Alternext market dedicated to small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
This protocol will enable NYSE Euronext Lisbon to identify the NERLEI members interested in the capital markets, while the Association will present the Exchange as an alternative financing source.
Joining the Alternext market may be a simplified way for the Portuguese SMEs to enter the capital markets in order to obtain financing, diversify their shareholder structure or issue debt securities.
Set up in May 2005, Alternext combines admission requirements that meet the needs of SMEs, and provides the investor with high standards of transparency and protection.
“The Portuguese Exchange firmly believes that Portugal and its corporations must consider all the means available to overcome today's enormous challenges. In this context, the capital markets, and particularly the stock market, given its structural relevance, continues to offer the solutions that companies are lacking”, said Luís Laginha de Sousa, CEO of NYSE Euronext Lisbon.
“This protocol provides the formal support for the cooperation between the Exchange and business entities. Given the nature and capacity of its activity, the Exchange is an important contributor to the collective effort companies, SMEs in particular, are making not to limit their ambitions for growth and development but consider other ways to find the solutions they need, such as the capital markets”, he added.
“Capitalization and access to financing are without doubt the biggest constraints SMEs are confronted with”, admits Jorge Santos, President of NERLEI. “We, the business associations, must help companies find financing sources other than bank credit. The protocol we are signing today aims to present our members with new and good alternatives”, he stated.