Azerbaijani companies are encouraged to raise capital in LSE

Today Baku hosts conference on "Fundraising in Baku and London: New Opportunities" on ways out of the corporate sector to the capital market by the London and Baku Stock Exchange.

Unlike many post-Soviet countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, there is no company that tried to make mass deployment (IPO) securities not only in London, but even in Baku.

The representative of the main organizer of the conference, the company KPMG in Azerbaijan, Vugar Aliyev said that Azerbaijani companies today are meager package of financial instruments. Increasing requirements for the minimum share capital of commercial banks offer great prospects to raise capital through the mass offerings. But for this, according to Aliyev, they have a long way to prepare for compliance to this process. According to him, the first IPO background on Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) should be expected no earlier than 1-1.5 years.

Business Development Manager of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Maxim Kondratyuk spoke about the possibilities of dual listing of Azerbaijani companies in Baku and London. He believes that the LSE is a good platform for alternative financing business ideas. According to him, many companies from the CIS countries attract capital from international financial center through dual listing, instruments which are convertible to shares depositary receipts. A lot of companies on the London Stock Exchange are also set for the privatization of certain shares of SOEs. The volume of capital raised through the LSE is $ 3 trillion, of which $ 1 trillion has been invested in foreign equities.

The head of the KPMG service of capital markets in Russia and the CIS, Svetlana Marriott described the practical aspects of the implementation of IPO at LSE, and the Chairman of the BSE Emil Aliyev spoke on the listing levels of the local exchange, at which, despite the mild conditions, virtually no local companies are listed.

It was noted that the "dress rehearsal" before IPO could be the issue and placement of corporate bonds. Director of Investments of Pasha Bank Taleh Kazymov conducted a comparative analysis on the benefits of bonds to bank loans. However, few of Azerbaijani companies decided to borrow through securities.

An important role in successful placement is public information of prospective investors of the company entering the market. About these subtleties of IPO reported the chairman of the board of Caspian Links and representative of College Hills for Azerbaijan, Vugar Khalilov.

At the conference, it was emphasized that the improvement of the legislation on securities market and corporate governance in the coming years will stimulate the formation of the modern capital market in Azerbaijan. - 08C-