Euronext to raise $670m

June 21, 2001 Posted: 1208 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Euronext, Europe's No. 2 bourse, said it plans to raise 780 million euros ($670 million) from an initial share sale for acquisitions.

The Amsterdam-based stock exchange, formed from the merger of the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels bourses, said on Thursday it priced it shares between 24 to 27.5, valuing it at 2.8 billion to 3.1 billion.

"We believe consolidation is inevitable and our bourse listing ... is a significant step to ensure we remain at the forefront of our industry," Euronext Chairman Jean-Francois Theodore said.

European bourses are racing to sell shares to investors, as this offers a currency for acquisitions. Deutsche Boerse was the first to publicly list in February raising 980 million in the process.

The London Stock Exchange, Europe's biggest stock exchange measured by the capitalization of all the companies listed on it markets, meets with its shareholders on July 19 to get their approval for full listing the next day. 

European stock markets are under pressure from institutional and retail investors to merge, thereby slashing the cost of trading and offering more stocks through one exchange trading platform.

Euronext, which has originally planned to list in May but was forced to delay plans because of poor market conditions, plans to sell between 14.5 million and 16.7 million new shares. It will also list between 12.2 million and 13.8 million existing shares, representing a combined minimum of new and existing shares to be sold of about 25 percent of its capital.

The final issue price will be set on July 5 and the shares will start trading on the Paris bourse on July 6.

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