Plaza Centers N.V to enter Warsaw Stock Exchange

It is the 18th company traded in Warsaw. The WSE admitted the Plaza Centers N.V to trading its shares on October 11. It is the first company to be listed simultaneously on the London Stock Exchange and the WSE. According to the press release, Plaza Center leads the developer and shopping and entertainment center sector in Central Europe. Its holding company, the Plaza Center N.V Group, has been operating on the Central and Eastern European market since 1996. Some 26 projects have been completed, seven of which are in Poland. Currently there are 25 projects under development with four of them in Poland, reports the press release.The Warsaw Stock Exchange has been for months attempting to build itself as a weighty financial center of Europe. The Polish market is becoming not only attractive to the Central European investor but also for Western Europe.

It is therefore not surprising the Plaza Center company has decided to make an IPO on WSE.Real estate giants Atlas Estates and 21st Century have also expressed an interest in making initial public offerings on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Currently 21st Century is operating in Ukraine while Atlas Estates is present in Poland. Both companies’ shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange operated AIM market.The press release reports that in 2007 alone, the IPOs of construction companies and real estate developers have totaled 14.2 bln PLN. This does not include the 10.7 bln zloty offer made by Immoeast, the Austrian developer.

According to the press release the WSE is an ?effective market with low entry costs’, which enables the largest companies to satisfy their equity needs. The WSE in order to boost the growth of listed companies offers special opportunities. The growing number of both Polish and foreign companies has meant that the WSE has “become a top European exchange and a strong regional leader in terms of the number if IPOs” – as the press release informs.