BizBahrain Magazine Nov-Dec 2017
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Interview | Bahrain Bourse<br />
entrepreneurial landscape has been<br />
driven by unprecedented interest from<br />
regional and international investors, as<br />
demonstrated by the recent acquisition<br />
by Amazon of regional e-commerce<br />
firm Souq.com in March <strong>2017</strong>. The<br />
high-profile nature of this deal helped<br />
attract even more international<br />
investors to the region. Another notable<br />
deal was PayTab’s capital raise of<br />
US$20 million. Such prominent deals<br />
highlight the important of flexible<br />
capital raising platforms such as BIM.<br />
The BIM’s appeal lies in its many<br />
target-specific benefits and features.<br />
In addition, these entities have a major<br />
role in contributing towards long-term<br />
economic growth and employment.<br />
“The region’s dynamic<br />
entrepreneurial<br />
landscape has been<br />
driven by unprecedented<br />
interest from regional<br />
and international<br />
investors…”<br />
advisory firms) to provide companies<br />
with the needed support and guidance<br />
both pre and post listing. This type of<br />
support goes a long way in providing<br />
companies with the required financial<br />
funding to fuel the growth of their<br />
company.<br />
How will you ensure that your target<br />
audience, which primarily consists<br />
of family-owned businesses and<br />
smaller companies step forward to<br />
take advantage of a completely new<br />
investment opportunity?<br />
Our target audience is mainly<br />
focused on entrepreneurs whom are<br />
ready to take the next step in their<br />
development with regional and global<br />
investors who are seeking investment<br />
opportunities in the region, with a solid<br />
regulatory and financial framework<br />
that protects the rights of both the<br />
companies and investors and ensures<br />
their needs are met efficiently. We<br />
have rolled-out the program with<br />
10 awareness sessions covering 12<br />
societies & association and more than<br />
1250 attendees. Since the launch,<br />
we have signed up four Authorized<br />
Sponsors, which are KPMG, KeyPoint,<br />
SICO and BDO.<br />
BIM offers raising equity capital<br />
via an organized, transparent, orderly<br />
functioning and reliable market/<br />
Companies will benefit from the<br />
positive effects of market discipline on<br />
the quality of management, improved<br />
corporate governance and greater<br />
visibility for potential investors,<br />
suppliers and clients.<br />
What’s next for Bahrain Bourse? What<br />
are the short term and long term plans?<br />
Bahrain Trade is our next major<br />
milestone and paving the way for<br />
Bahrain Clear to leverage the service<br />
offering to investors and issuers<br />
alike, as well as attracting more retail<br />
financial institutions to participate in<br />
our Bahrain Trade Network.<br />
Which are the equity markets in the<br />
region running a similar initiative and<br />
how successful have they been?<br />
Similar equity market concepts<br />
are already successfully implemented<br />
elsewhere in the world such as Catalyst<br />
market in Singapore and AIM in<br />
London have been successful, and we<br />
have every reason to believe that we<br />
can replicate that success here given<br />
the region’s strong and historical<br />
entrepreneurial culture.<br />
What is the nature of the relationship<br />
with Tamkeen? How will it support BIM?<br />
Tamkeen has developed a<br />
customized support program dedicated<br />
to funding the costs associated with<br />
engaging Sponsors (specialized<br />
<strong>Nov</strong>ember-<strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>2017</strong><br />
41
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