Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE) today announced the launch of Santiago Stock Exchange Venture (SSEV), a new public venture capital market for small and early-stage companies in one of Latin America’s largest economies. The announcement was made at a launch event featuring Juan Andrés Camus, Chairman at SSE, Aurora Williams Baussa, Chile’s Minister of Mining, José Antonio Martínez, General Manager at SSE, and John McCoach, President, TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).
TSXV and SSE entered into an agreement in March 2014 to create a streamlined dual listing process providing companies with access to public venture capital markets in both Chile and Canada. Under this agreement, companies listed on TSXV may choose to list on the new market. SSEV is initially focused on capital formation for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the mining sector. The new venture market may expand to other industry sectors at a later stage.
“One of the biggest challenges of Santiago Stock Exchange has been to deepen its position as a solid, diversified, competitive and transparent market that attracts national and foreign investors,” said Mr. Camus. “The launch of the Santiago Stock Exchange’s new Venture Market is part of this strategy. We hope that it will become a viable option for financing early-stage companies and contribute to the growth of the Chilean capital market.”
“TSX Venture Exchange is a leading global marketplace for financing and trading SMEs,” said Mr. McCoach. “The launch of Santiago Stock Exchange, Venture will help entrepreneurs and emerging companies in Chile to grow their businesses, while also providing new opportunities for TSXV-listed companies who choose to access capital in Latin American markets.”
A dual listing on SSEV will allow TSXV-listed companies to not only connect to investors in Chile, but also the investment communities in Colombia, Mexico and Peru through the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA), a program that integrates the capital markets of these countries.