This paper analyses the Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Neuer Markt (NM), the German Stock Exchange for young, innovative, fast growing companies. The study is based on a statistical survey of the firms listed in NM in June 1998. The paper's particular focus is on the description of the companies' characteristics, i.e. age, number of employees, business segments and sales revenues before IPO. These findings are compared with new data from 1999.
The next part analyses the reasons for choosing NM as stock exchange for IPOs. Furthermore the study presents information about the preparation time and the costs of IPOs. The following chapter of the presented paper is dedicated to the assessment and acceptance of admission and ongoing requirements. The data reveal that the requirements are accepted by the firms. The last part consists mainly of recommendations for conceptual improvements. In particular, an admission check improvement is expected by most of the interviewed firms. Based on the analysis presented in this paper it can be argued that Neuer Markt opens up new perspectives for young, innovative "small caps" to improve their capital base.