Aktualność
Debut of CEDC - the first U.S. company at the Warsaw Stock Exchange
This was a very special day in the history of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. For the first time ever two companies made their debuts on the same day: Monnari Trade and CEDC. For this reason the debut celebration for Central European Distribution Corporation was held at an unusual time: 1 p.m. A total of 24,896,627 ordinary shares and 2,550,000 ordinary shares under a public offering were introduced to trading.
CEDC is the 34th company to make its debut this year and the 5th foreign company listed at the WSE. Including CECD, 280 companies are now quoted at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, out of which 11 are foreign-based. The sectoral classification of CEDC is ‘Trade’.
In his welcoming speech President Ludwik Sobolewski said: Let me extend a warm welcome to the 34th debutant at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The Company has been approaching the Stock Exchange for some time and I am glad to witness its debut today. CEDC is already quoted at NASDAQ. I do hope that the WSE will become the main trading floor for your Company. Making a reference to the business of CEDC and the unusual celebration timing President Sobolewski mentioned the old times when alcohol sales were only allowed after 1 p.m. Considering this, setting the celebration time for 1 p.m. was not a bad idea after all, he said.
The CEO of CEDC, William Carey, thanked the people and institutions who made the debut possible: the executives and management of CEDC, the WSE, the National Depository for Securities, ING Securities who offered the shares, the legal counsel and the statutory auditor. We thought of coming to the WSE as early as in 1997. However, we weren’t big enough as a company back then. Yet we never abandoned the thought of making it to the WSE. I cannot exclude that within a few years a large proportion of our liquidity will move from NASDAQ to the WSE, one of the best exchanges in this part of Europe.
From the left: Ludwik Sobolewski, Andrzej Olszewski, William Carem, Chris Biedermann
Essential information about the Company
According to the prospectus, CEDC is the largest (in value and volume) manufacturer and leading distributor and importer of alcoholic beverages in Poland. The Company’s business includes marketing and distribution of products manufactured in its two distilleries, as well as the importation, marketing and distribution on an exclusive basis of many well known international beers, wines and spirits brands and wholesaling of a range of products from local and international drinks companies operating in Poland.