German Equity Forum 2008 Opens in Frankfurt

Deutsche Börse and KfW Mittelstandsbank have jointly opened the German Equity Forum in Frankfurt am Main for the twelfth time. The capital market conference runs from 10 – 12 November, and is the world’s largest information and network platform for companies seeking equity capital.

At the official opening of the Forum, Deutsche Börse CEO Reto Francioni stressed the relevance of equity financing: “Only those with adequate equity can take a chance in globalization. Equity is essential in order to expand production capacities, to rise research and development budgets and to improve international presence” he said.

Member of the Board of Managing Directors of the KfW Banking Group Wolfgang Kroh had this to say at the opening of the Fall 2008 Forum, “One of KfW-Mittelstandsbank’s key tasks is strengthening the equity capital market for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Particularly in the current environment, it is important to prevent the lack of capital from stopping up-and-coming growth companies from transforming their ideas into marketable products. Strengthening the equity resources of SMEs must therefore be high on the development policy agenda, along with adequate provision of debt financing for them.”

The Equity Forum offers the participants, numbering some 5,000, panel discussions, presentations and workshops on corporate financing and capital market regulation. International companies from China, Russia and the CIS, India and Bulgaria will introduce themselves in country forums. Around 210 listed companies will be presenting their Q3 results at investor and analyst conferences. More than 50 non-listed companies will use the three-day forum to present their business models to a broad group of venture capital and private equity investors.

Leading global market organizer Deutsche Börse, and promotional bank KfW have been organizing the German Equity Forum, held twice a year, since 1996. The fall event is aimed at both listed and later-stage companies, while the primary focus of the Forum in spring is on early-stage and growth companies.