WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE AND DLA PIPER HOLD JOINT SEMINAR "HOW TO LAUNCH IPO AT THE WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE"

DLA Piper, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, 15 April, 2010

KYIV - The Kyiv office of international legal practice DLA Piper and the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) hosted a joint seminar on "How to Launch an IPO at the Warsaw Stock Exchange" on 9 April. Over 20 senior management from Ukrainian companies from several sectors, including agrarian, telecommunication and media, attended the seminar at the Hayatt Regency Kyiv Hotel to hear from a highly experienced panel of experts.

The seminar provided Ukrainian companies looking for alternative ways of raising capital with valuable information related to listing or offering on the WSE. Attendees were given a comprehensive insight into the stages they would need to go through when preparing to launch an initial public offering at the stock exchange, including legal, financial and marketing considerations.

Speakers included representatives from the WSE, lawyers from DLA Piper's Kyiv and Warsaw offices, financial advisers from Phoenix Capital and Erste Securities Polska investment companies, the head of Capital Markets at Erste Group Bank, as well as auditors from Baker Tilly Ukraine. 

In addition, Mr Mykola Kovalsky, Head of Investor Relations Department at the agricultural holding company Astarta Kyiv, attended the seminar as a special guest. Mr Kovalsky spoke about the advantages of listing on the WSE using Astarta's as a case example.

ABOUT DLA PIPER UKRAINE
DLA Piper Ukraine LLC is part of DLA Piper, the largest global legal services organisation with offices across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US. Over 3,500 lawyers across 67 offices and 29 countries provide a broad range of legal services to businesses that operate on a local, regional and global level. The Kyiv team comprises more than 30 lawyers and is headed by Managing Partner Margarita Karpenko. DLA Piper is relationship driven and committed to meeting the ongoing legal needs of its clients. For further information about our organisation and services, please visit our website: www.dlapiper.com.

ABOUT WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE
Established in 1991, Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) has become a leader in the Central and Eastern Europe over the last 18 years, and presently it is the major regional stock exchange by trading volume and market capitalization indicators, as well as one of the most dynamically developed IPO markets in this region.

WSE has proved itself to be the best place for capital raising not only for local, but also foreign companies, which include domestic companies, in particular Ukrainian agricultural holding companies Astarta and Kernel Group, which have been highly evaluated by investors before and after IPO. For further information please see: http://www.gpw.pl/index.asp. According to 2010 forecasts of WSE experts, stocks of agricultural sector and FMCG sector companies will be in the greatest demand among investors.

USUBC FOOTNOTE: DLA Piper is a member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., www.usubc.org.