Shares in Amarin, the pharmaceutical group, begins trading on the Dublin and London stock markets today. The shares, already listed on the US Nasdaq, will trade on the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX) and London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Amarin's opening share price will be determined by last night's closing price on the Nasdaq. Late yesterday, it was trading at $2.40 (€1.88), valuing the company at around $195 million.
Amarin, whose main product is a treatment for Huntington's disease called Miraxion, is not raising funds as part of the listing to provide flexibility for its European investors and to attract new ones.
"We would like to give other European investors the opportunity to buy the stock," said Amarin's chief financial officer, Alan Cooke. While most of Amarin's shareholders are based in the US, the group has an extensive Irish investor base which includes its chairman, Tom Lynch.
The former Elan finance director owns 18 per cent of the company, financier Dermot Desmond's investment vehicle, IIU, owns 3 per cent, while other Irish investors include Ryanair founder Tony Ryan and Icon founder Dr John Climax.
