The introduction of the euro (€) should financially benefit those biotechnology companies listed on exchanges trading in the new currency, according to analysts and investors. The new European currency came into use across 11 countries in Europe (Eurozone) at the start of 1999. The greater exposure to investors keen to trade in euros is expected to have a particular benefit for firms listed in the smaller Eurozone states that previously traded in currencies such as the Dutch guilder and Belgian franc that are less internationally recognized. Some observers predict that the electronic trading exchange, Easdaq, will become a hot spot in Europe for raising money. Easdaq was trading in all European currencies, but all its listed companies based in the Eurozone now trade in Euros. It can also offer non–Eurozone firms a Euro listing. Analysts and investors believe the combination of the pan–European currency and the pan–European investor base could be a winning formula.
Stephen Parker, a director of Apax Partners (London), an investment group targeting hi–tech industries including biotechnology, believes it will be easier for non–European investors to follow companies if they are trading in Euros. "For investors outside Europe, one thing that got in the way in the past was dealing with 20 or so different currencies," he says. Focusing on just the one currency should help investors make more meaningful comparisons between companies, says Nick Woolf, a senior analyst at Banc Boston Robertson Stephens (BBRS; London). In turn, this will benefit European biotechnology companies, he says, because an international market "will attract more international investors."
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