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The Istanbul Stock Exchange is the latest bourse from emerging Europe to announce plans to establish a small-cap market segment, which it is hoped will mirror the success of the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Established in 1995, AIM has attracted more than 3,100 companies, which have raised almost $100 billion. The latest announcement by the IPE is part of an initiative launched in October 2008 to triple the number of companies listed to 1,000 by 2014, from about 320 at present.
"Going public and trading on ISE is essential for the companies to have continued access to the funds they need for growth and for ensuring sustainability," says ISE chairman Hüseyin Erkan. "Numerous Turkish companies fail to make sufficient use of such opportunities because they are not traded on the ISE. I am sure that prominent Turkish companies will become global companies if they have sufficient access to the opportunities offered by the capital markets." Of the 1,000 biggest companies in Turkey, only 120 are traded on the ISE.