New chair Amsterdam Exchange
René van Vlerken (Geldrop, 1971) is the new chair of Euronext Amsterdam as of today. He follows Simone Huis in ‘t Veld, who has held the position since 2019. Since the origins of the modern Amsterdam Exchange in 1876, Van Vlerken is the 21st exchange chair. René van Vlerken is known by his colleagues as a ‘real stock market man’. He has worked at Euronext Amsterdam since 2017 after previously working at ABN AMRO and Rabobank. He has been Head of Listings in the Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe for the past six years. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Amsterdam Exchange since 2018.
Constant record breaking on the AEX index
Since the record was broken on 6 February this year, the AEX index has seen a deluge of records being broken in the first half of 2024. In fact, it officially happened fifteen times between 6 February and 10 July 2024. And after the magic barrier of 900 points was broken for the first time on 7 May, the index today reached its highest level ever: 939.62. This is thanks to the chip industry companies ASML, ASM International and Besi, who are making a huge contribution to the forward momentum the AEX is enjoying.
ASML price above €1,000
The exchange fund ASML experienced a historic moment: the stock price broke the €1,000 barrier for the first time. This brings the total market value of this chip machine manufacturer to €400 billion. This is as much as the four well known market names of Shell, Unilever, Heineken and Ahold combined. While ASML has been the largest company in the Netherlands in terms of market value for some time, and is also the second largest listed company in Europe, the company is still relatively unknown to the general public. It’s high time for a short introduction.
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London Tunnels comes to the Amsterdam Exchange
Today a special British company listed at Beursplein 5: London Tunnels Plc. This company wants to create a tourist attraction under the centre of London in an empty tunnel network that dates back to the Second World War. The aim is to open the doors in 2027, and to attract 3 million visitors per year.
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10th anniversary of Euronext IPO
After the split of the transatlantic exchange group NYSE Euronext (2007-2014), Euronext was able to stand on its own two feet again in 2014 through a listing on its own exchange. It needed to reinvent itself, so to speak. Exactly 10 years ago today, employees sounded the gong at all locations of the exchange organisation. A lot has happened in the past ten years. In 2014, four exchanges: Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris, were part of Euronext; since then the Dublin, Oslo and Milan exchanges have also joined the European exchange group. In addition to the seven exchanges, many non-trading institutions are now also part of Euronext. This is a conscious strategic choice and makes Euronext less dependent on exchange trading in terms of turnover and profit figures.
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KPMG study
KPMG published its research report into the state of the Dutch capital market and presented it to the Ministry of Economic Affairs during an event at Beursplein 5 on 21 May 2024. The study, which KPMG carried out on behalf of Stichting Capital Amsterdam and following an earlier study in 2013, is based on interviews with sixty relevant market parties. The report concludes that the capital market in the Netherlands works reasonably well, but various bottlenecks and areas for improvement were also identified.
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IPO of super investor CVC
A single blue flag with CVC in white letters was hung out on the facade of Beursplein 5. After previous attempts in May 2022 and November 2023, investment company CVC Capital Partners today quietly made its debut on the Amsterdam Exchange. As usual with closed corporate culture, the new exchange fund will refrain from a press conference and the usual gong ceremony. Nevertheless, the introduction has been a success. CVC raised €2.3 billion with the IPO. A small part of this concerns the issuance of new shares, while the majority concerns shares offered by some minority shareholders. Private investors cannot participate; the sale is only open to institutional investors. After the IPO, CVC now appears to be worth €17 billion.
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100 years of the Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (VEB)
Today is a memorable day for the VEB, the interest group for investors and securities holders in the Netherlands. It was founded in The Hague exactly 100 years ago under the name Vereniging Effectenbescherming (Association of Securities Protection). On its centenary, it receives the ‘Royal’ designation.
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Market debut of Greek Cypriot Theon
Theon, the Greek Cypriot defence company, made its debut on the Amsterdam Exchange on today. This is a special IPO considering that, since the introduction of software company MotorK in November 2021, this is the first time an ordinary company has issued new shares during its debut at Beursplein 5. This was not the case for the IPOs of Exor in 2022 and Ferrovial in 2023, while SPACS cannot be regarded as real companies. The international character of the exchange in the capital was a contributing factor in Theon’s choice for Amsterdam.
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New closing record for the AEX index
It’s been a while since the AEX index reached its provisional highest closing level of 827.57 in November 2021. But the celebrations continued today. The AEX index reached a new closing record of 831.09. The index mainly reflects the success of chip machine builder ASML, which is now the most important fund at Beursplein 5 due to the incessant hunger for chips.
Still no cancellation of listings
After Euronext Amsterdam threatened to delist eight small funds April 2023, it appears they can now keep their place on the Damrak. The reason for the impending cancellation was that they had been unable to engage an accountant for a long time and were therefore unable to submit approved annual accounts. Initially they were given a deadline of early November 2023 to find an accountant and/or submit annual accounts. In October 2023, Euronext Amsterdam offered the funds a postponement until mid-January 2024. The reason for this was that the Portugal route, which had previously offered Value 8 a solution in finding an accountant, was seen as a viable option for the other small exchange funds.
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