There was a celebratory atmosphere at the first day of trading ceremony for Interlife Insurance on the Athens Stock Exchange trading floor on 26 January. Interlife was the first company to be listed for trading on ATHEX in 3.5 years, and its entry coincides with the 30-year anniversary of its founding in 1991.
Specifically, 18,567,912 ordinary registered Interlife S.A. shares were floated for trading on the ATHEX Main Market, at a starting price of €3.48. The company’s shares continue to be traded on the Cyprus Stock Exchange Emerging Companies Market (ECM).
Due to pandemic-related restrictions, there was a limited number of people present at the ceremony. Those in attendance on the ATHEXGROUP podium included the ATHEX Group CEO Socrates Lazaridis, Interlife President and CEO Ioannis P. Votsaridis, Deputy CEO Konstantinos Votsaridis, Financial Services Director Athanasios Proios and the Head of the Department of Private Insurance Supervision at the Bank of Greece, Ioanna Seliniotaki.
In his opening remarks welcoming the company to the Greek stock exchange, Mr Lazaridis said, amongst other things: “Although Interlife’s listing already had the required free float and so did not involve raising of capital, either through private placement or public offering, we hope it will realise the best possible outcome from a liquidity aspect. This is the first non-banking company to be listed on the Greek exchange originating from a capital market in the broader geographic area.”
Interlife President Ioannis Votsaridis then pressed the bell and pounded the gavel to open trading and then presented his own remarks on the company’s addition to the ATHEXGROUP board. “Interlife’s entry into the stock exchange is a special honour for us, but also a doubly joyous occasion, as it coincides with the passing of 30 years since our company’s founding. Our course has been steadily rising and profitable, even through the decade of MOUs,” Mr Votsaridis noted, adding: “I would like to thank the Board of Directors and the officers of the Athens Exchange, as well as the Board of Directors and staff of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission for their impeccable cooperation. I would also like to thank our own officers, our partners and our company’s employees, as well as the contractor, CYCLOS Securities S.A., for their many months of hard work. A big thank you also to the network of more than 2,000 brokers throughout the country who are a major factor in our success. And finally, I want to thank our shareholders for the trust they place in us. In these unique circumstances of the pandemic, but also the optimistic prospect of an economic recovery in 2021, we hope our entry into the Hellenic Stock Exchange will be an indicator of the potential for growth for the entire insurance market to the benefit of the Greek economy in general.”
