By Estelle Dumout, 14 August 2003 14:38
NEWS The German Nasdaq is to close after not even half a year in existence, after failing to seduce investors and challenge the dominance of the Frankfurt stock exchange. After just five months the technology stock market is set to shut its doors, with Friday 29 August 2003 being the last official day of trading on the German Nasdaq. Its US parent company, the Nasdaq Stock Market, which manages the exchange of the same name in the US, has decided that as of June, it would progressively cease its European activities. The US Nasdaq controlled 50 per cent of the Nasdaq Deutschland, with the rest of the capital being shared between four other companies, including Dresdner bank. Since the announcement of the Nasdaq Stock Market's relocation to the American continent, the other shareholders have tried to find a potential 'fixer'. Euronet, which covers the Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Brussels stock markets, has been mentioned, but no bid has succeeded yet. Since its launch on 21 March 2002, the promoters of the German Nasdaq has made no secret of their ambitions. Quite simply, its aim was to replace the Neuer Markt - the section of the German stock market devoted to technology shares. The Neuer Markt also had to shut its doors in June, unable to resist the collapse of the technology markets. But for the Nasdaq, it was a case of not being able to attract the sector's investors who, despite everything, preferred to stay with the Frankfurt Boerse. The German Nasdaq only managed to register between 1,200 and 1,900 transactions a day. Nasdaq Stock Market has also opened a subsidiary in Japan in June 2000, before pulling out of the market in August 2002, citing "bad economic conditions". Estelle Dumout writes for ZDNet France. Translated by Jo Best
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