The London Stock Exchange yesterday formally launched Techmark, a small cap market aimed specifically at the high-tech start-up segment. The new exchange will go live in November, featuring an initial 170 companies already listed on the main board of the LSE but identified as ‘innovative technology companies.’ They will retain their existing FTSE index and industry classification, as well as being included on the FTSE Techmark index.
To support the new initiative, the LSE said it will create a specific area on its web site with information on the market and the companies listed on it, provided via a link to the online corporate information service run by Hemmington Scott Plc. A national ad and direct mail campaign also broke yesterday.
Techmark is seen in financial circles as a reactive, rather than proactive, move on the part of the LSE, responding to the success of other European small cap initiatives for high-tech firms, particularly Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt. It remains to be seen whether it fares any better than the lackluster Alternative Investment Market, launched by the LSE in the early nineties for small caps in general.
