Making Science, listed on BME Growth and Aluflexpack, listed on the main market of the Swiss stock exchange are amongst the shortlisted companies for the category “Star of 2021”.
Making Science was one of the four companies nominated by BME for the European Small and Mid-Cap Awards, together with Almagro Capital and Soluciones Cuatroochenta, from BME Growth, and Soltec, from the main market. With a market capitalisation of 182 million euros, Making Science specialises in integrated technology and marketing solutions for digital business and was listed on BME Growth in February 2020. Aluflexpack produces flexible packaging solutions mainly for end markets such as coffee/tea, pharmaceuticals, pet food, confectionery and dairy. Since its listing on the Swiss stock exchange in 2019, Aluflexpack has increased its market capitalization by aound 50% to CHF 576 million.
Both have been shortlisted in the same of the four awards categories, namely “Star of 2021”, where companies are considered to be exceptional leaders and stand out in the crowd in a broad range of areas including a vision of clear growth potential. The two exchanges of the SIX Group are therefore competing for the top spot. But no matter who wins, this is a clear example of the excellence of the small and mid-cap companies listed in both countries and the support that both the Swiss and the Spanish exchange give to them to achieve tremendous milestones.
The European Small and Mid-Cap Awards aim to promote best practices and encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access capital markets via IPOs. It is a joint initiative of the European Commission, leading European securities exchanges and EuropeanIssuers.
Supporting SMEs is crucial for an economy, given that more than 98% of firms in the EU belong to this category according to the Federation of European Stock Exchanges (FESE). As they form the basis for entrepreneurship, jobs and growth, SMEs require a favourable environment which meets their financing needs, in particular when accessing markets. For this reason, both the Swiss and the Spanish stock exchange developed growth markets with tailoredofferings for such companies.
Since its launch in 2009, BME Growth, BME’s market for SMEs, has been instrumental in providing this favourable environment and will continue to be so in the future, by nurturing and facilitating the success of leading Spanish SMEs by providing them with funding, liquidity and invaluable visibility.
A similar initiative announced by the Swiss stock exchange this July is Sparks, a stock exchange venue exclusively for SMEs. As a dedicated, tailored, regulated exchange venue, it will help these companies to benefit from enhanced visibility, a more relevant peer group and more effective price formation in their equity securities.
The winners will be announced during a ceremony to be held in Portoroz, Slovenia, on 16 November.