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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (1936)	9/16/1999 4:30:00 PM
From: David Wiggins	Respond to of 3175

FOCUS-London to showcase tech stocks on techMARK By David Holmes LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange on Thursday unveiled plans for a new technology market, intended to promote its position in growth stocks against competitors such as Nasdaq and Germany's Neuer Markt. The market is London's attempt to promote home-grown technology companies, tapping investor interest in the Internet and other expanding fields like telecommunications. TechMARK will provide investors with a single benchmark to track the UK technology sector and was heralded by the Exchange as an indicator of its drive to improve its high-tech profile. ``The launch of techMARK...is part of our long-term drive to support innovative growth companies,' said LSE Chief Executive Gavin Casey. ``We're not launching this because we've looked at other markets and want to do something similar, but because it's right for the UK market.' Investment bank Close Brothers (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CBG.L) has committed to creating the first techMARK fund and other fund managers contacted by Reuters broadly welcomed the initiative. ``I think it's great. It will allow people to look at technology as an area,' said Bill Brown, a director of Friends Ivory & Sime. ``It will give technology companies visibility, and should enhance the number of IPOs.' JURY STILL OUT Two indices for the new techMARK grouping, which will include over 170 stocks at launch, will be calculated from November, one for the market as a whole and another for its smaller members. For a draft list, click on <0#.TECH>. Some analysts said the LSE may face an uphill struggle to ensure techMARK'S success. ``This looks a fairly modest initiative, really an index rather than a market,' said Richard Donner, managing director for IT at investment bank Granville. ``The stock exchange is certainly making some useful steps in the right direction, but the jury is definitely still out.' Constituents of the new market will include existing listed stocks, ranging from members of the blue chip FTSE 100 such as mobile 'phone group Vodafone AirTouch (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L), Britain's second biggest company by market value, to small stocks in the FTSE Fledgling index. The market will cover industries such as computer hardware and software, the Internet and telecommunications equipment. Firms with a high technology component in areas such as aerospace and pharmaceuticals may also qualify. Proposed new listing rules will make it easier for firms with a limited track record to qualify. Young companies without the three-year trading record currently required for a main market listing would report quarterly under the plans instead of half-yearly. However techMARK will not include stocks in the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), created four years ago for small and growth companies. FREESERVE LEADS THE WAY Freeserve Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: FRE.L), which made its market debut in July after a minority stake was spun off by parent electrical retailer Dixons Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: DXNS.L), has highlighted investor interest in potential growth areas. The LSE has also in recent months created a series of separate sector classifications for IT and software firms, which were formerly included in the general ``support services' group. Yet the Exchange may have a battle on its hands to promote its new initiative, since some of its other attempts to promote technology and other growth stocks have had a mixed success. AIM for instance has grown to include more than 300 stocks but has faced criticism of low liquidity in many of its shares. Overall AIM has failed to match the high profile of the Neuer Markt and Nasdaq, which has used blue chip members such as Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) as the centre of a high profile advertising campaign in Britain and continental Europe.

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (1936)	9/16/1999 4:34:00 PM
From: David Wiggins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Swisscom Buys Rest of Comfone (from Vodafone) to Boost Roaming Trade Bloomberg News September 16, 1999, 8:39 a.m. PT Swisscom Buys Rest of Comfone to Boost Roaming Trade Bern, Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Swisscom AG, Switzerland's biggest phone company, said it bought the 50 percent in Comfone it didn't own from Vodafone Europe Holding BV, a unit of Vodafone AirTouch Plc., to strengthen its international roaming business. Comfone, which was formed by Swisscom and Vodafone in 1997, has 500 network connections with 90 operators worldwide and offers access to 200 bilateral roaming partners of Swisscom via an international roaming platform. The terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. Like other former monopolies, Swisscom is under pressure to seek growth abroad as rivals encroach on its traditional voice business. The takeover will strengthen Swisscom's position in the international roaming market, in which users get access to other operators' network. ``In addition to signaling and network access, these also include data and financial services, which are becoming increasingly important in the growth market of international roaming,' the company said adding that it's also strengthening Comfone's future role as a so-called roaming broker. Swisscom shares fell 4 francs, or 0.9 percent, to 458 ($297) on the Swiss Exchange. Vodafone Airtouch shares fell 19 pence, or 1.5 percent to 1,243p ($20.18) in London.