ALTANA shares begin trading at the New York Stock Exchange under symbol "AAA"; Another step towards internationalization.Business Editors NEW YORK/BAD HOMBURG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2002 AAA AAA: see American Automobile Association. (Triple A) A common single-cell battery used in a myriad of electronic devices of all variety. Like its double A (AA) cousin, it provides 1.5 volts of DC power. When used in series, the voltage is multiplied. - That is the ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors of ALTANA, a leading pharmaceuticals and chemicals group, as the first day of trading in its shares gets underway on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. on May 22, 2002. "Listing our shares on the NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange is a reflection of our consistent strategy of US-oriented internationalization The support for monetary values, time and date for countries around the world. It also embraces the use of native characters and symbols in the different alphabets. See localization, i18n, Unicode and IDN. internationalization - internationalisation . We are aiming to raise our profile in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as well as in the financial community, and we also want to attract new, highly qualified employees in the United States. Listing on the world's largest stock exchange is an important milestone and we are very proud to be here today", explained Nikolaus Schweickart, Chairman of the Management Board of ALTANA AG. The start of trading in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of also marks the end of a one-week roadshow to all the major trading centers in North America, at which the Management Board presented the ALTANA share to investors. U.S. investors currently hold a stake of around 10% in ALTANA, and it is hoped that the NYSE listing will bring this figure up to 15% in the medium-term. Shares of ALTANA will be traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), i.e. certificates for shares held by an American depositary bank. ALTANA applies International Accounting Standards (IAS See iPlanet Application Server. 1. (computer) IAS - The first modern computer. It had main registers, processing circuits, information paths within the central processing unit, and used Von Neumann's fetch-execute cycle. ) to its financial statements: for the listing a set of transitional accounts were prepared in line with US-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles The standard accounting rules, regulations, and procedures used by companies in maintaining their financial records. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) provide companies and accountants with a consistent set of guidelines that cover both broad accounting ). ALTANA continues to pursue its internationalization strategy clearly focused on the US. The US is ALTANA's largest and most important market, accounting for 21% of consolidated sales of EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 2.3 billion. In 2001, US sales amounted to almost EUR500 million, which represents a year-on-year rise of 44%. ALTANA currently employs a workforce of approximately 1,000 in the United States, but this figure is set to double in the immediate future. As the Specialty Chemicals division already occupies leading positions in its niche markets in the U.S., effort will initially be concentrated on building up a strong pharmaceuticals business over the next few years. ALTANA intends to use ALTANA Pharma (US), to build up its own research unit and, in particular, its own marketing and sales capacity in the US. New respiratory products from ALTANA's own research pipeline, for which alliances have already been concluded with Aventis Pharma and Pharmacia Corporation, will contribute to this process. About the company ALTANA AG is an international pharmaceuticals and chemicals group with sales of EUR2.3 billion in 2001 and over 9,000 employees all over the world. Its Pharmaceuticals division, ALTANA Pharma (Constance), concentrates on the areas Therapeutics, Contrast Media, In-vitro diagnostic products and OTC OTC See: Over-the-counter. OTC See over-the-counter market (OTC). medication, and focuses on innovative pharmaceutical research (gastroenterology, respiratory, oncology). ALTANA Pharma represents a group of about 30 subsidiaries and affiliates in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The Chemicals division ALTANA Chemie develops, produces and sells Additives & Instruments, Coatings & Sealants, Varnish & Compounds and Wire Enamels worldwide. The Chemicals division has more than 20 subsidiaries and affiliates all over the world. This press release contains statements about the future which are obviously subject to certain risks and uncertainties. If the assumptions on which these statements are made are not fulfilled, the effective results may differ from those currently expected. ALTANA cannot accept any responsibility for updating such statements or adapting them to future events or developments. This press release, additional background information as well as a live webcast of the listing event is available at www.altana.com. |
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