Spain’s infant firms need more than a junior stockmarket to help them grow
BESIDES entertaining millions of tiny tots around the world, Pocoyo, an animated cartoon character, this week briefly caught the attention of Spanish investors. Zinkia, the company that produces the programme, became the first firm to list on Spain’s new small-cap exchange, the Mercado Alternativo Bursatil (MAB), created to nurture corporate infants and help more of them reach maturity.
It may seem an odd time to be going public. The market in Europe has been shut for months. But Spain’s smaller firms are desperate for cash. They complain that the banks, which are heavily exposed to the burst property bubble, have become extremely reluctant to lend to them. …