Reply #15: Warsaw Beats London as IPO `Casino' Lures Buyers to 69% Losses [View All]

[ozymandius]

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Warsaw overtook London to become Europe's hottest market for initial public offerings with a small-cap exchange that's luring investors even after listed shares tumbled 69 percent this year.

Six companies debuted in Poland since last month's bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., bringing this year's total to 68, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In the U.K., 59 initial share sales took place in 2008, the data show.

The combination of 10.9 percent annual wage growth this year and disclosure rules that allow companies listing on the NewConnect market to sell shares without providing investors with a prospectus is prompting an IPO boom almost 20 years after the collapse of Communism. The NCIndex of 73 companies on the small- cap bourse fell 21 percentage points more than Poland's benchmark WIG20 Index, whose 20 companies have an average market value 643 times larger than those on NewConnect.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aQIbS1JuCA.I&refer=exclusive

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Caveat emptor, as always.