The London Stock
Exchange has
neither confirmed nor denied reports that it intends to launch a new market
for technology stocks, modelled on the Nasdaq.
However, the need for such a market has been clear for some time, and
reports from the BBC and leading newspapers suggest that serious
plans are in the pipeline.
Among the speculation is that the market will be called Techmark
and will launch as early as September this year.
A spokeswoman for the London Stock Exchange gave credence
to the speculation by saying that LSE was “not ready to
launch it yet.”
With the growing interest in Internet stocks in the UK,
a separate high-tech market is becoming essential, in the
view of many observers. UK companies that currently list on
Germany’s Neuer Markt would certainly change if the opportunity
for a London listing arose.
Since the flotation of Dixon’s Freeserve in July, the city
has woken up to the fact that there are other, smaller
businesses without a track-record of profitability that
need to raise capital. Techmark would be the natural home
for UK Internet stocks with high-growth potential.