Fifty Foreign Companies On The WSE: First Swiss Company Newly Listed On The Warsaw Stock Exchange

• Orphee SA is the first Swiss issuer and the 50th foreign company listed on the WSE

• It is the 6th foreign issuer to be newly listed on the WSE in 2012; four had their debut on the Main Market and two on NewConnect

Orphee SA, a health care company registered in Geneva, is the first Swiss issuer listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

After today’s new listing, the WSE’s two stock markets list 50 foreign companies (42 on the Main Market and 8 on NewConnect) from several dozen countries. The most numerous listings are from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Israel, Bulgaria, and the UK. Foreign issuers on the WSE represent most sectors, primarily the agricultural and food industry, as well as the real estate sector.

Orphee is the sixth foreign company whose stock is newly listed on the WSE in 2012 (the five foreign issuers previously listed have raised PLN 32.5 million in total) and the second foreign company to be newly listed on NewConnect in 2012. The issuer is the 422nd company listed on the WSE’s alternative stock market and the 81st new listing on NewConnect in 2012. The company is planning to transfer to the WSE’s Main Market within a year.

“Despite a pessimistic sentiment on the European markets, the WSE remains an attractive venue to raise growth capital for foreign issuers. A high growth rate, as measured by the number of issuers, is an evident success of NewConnect, which currently is the fastest growing alternative market in Europe. It has also proven to be a genuine source of issuers for the Main Market: no less than 18 companies listed on NewConnect have transferred to the Main Market,” said WSE CEO Ludwik Sobolewski.

16,600,000 shares of the company have been newly listed on NewConnect, including 10,000,000 “old issue” shares and 6,600,000 “new issue” shares. The business of Orphee SA is the production and distribution of products used in clinical segments of biochemistry, haematology, serology, diagnostic and laboratory analysis instruments (for medical and veterinary applications), as well as vaccine blood collection systems. The company has an international network of distributors present in over 100 countries and is a major player on the global in vitro diagnostics market.