Testing Europe's markets

OXFORD - Transgene'ssuccessful bid to have its shares on both NASDAQ and the Nouveau Marche has confirmed that the dual listing route is still open to European bioscience companies, and caps a small budding of biotech IPO and follow-on offerings that is springing from Europe's domestic stock exchanges.

The gene therapy company last week succeeded in raising FF350 million (US$57.2 million) with an IPO of some 1.3 million shares - offered as either ordinary shares on the Nouveau Marche or as American Depositary Shares (ADSs), representing one-third of a share each, on NASDAQ...