Rocket Internet, the parent company of Jumia has hat it has applied for admission of its shares for uplisting for trading on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Once Rocket Internet’s application is approved by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, trading of Rocket Internet’s shares on the regulated market is expected to commence around September 27, 2016.
Commenting on the development, Oliver Samwer, CEO Rocket Internet said: “The uplisting has been an important goal for Rocket Internet and underscores our efforts to comply with the capital markets best practices”.
Since Rocket Internet’s IPO in October 2014, the Company’s shares were listed on the non-regulated market (Entry Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Rocket Internet said it changed its accounting standards to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) last year, which is a key requirement for a Prime Standard listing.
According to Investopedia, IFRS accounting standard is used in more than 110 countries. It has key differences from the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP. At the conceptually level, IFRS is considered more of a “principles based” accounting standard in contrast to GAAP which is considered more “rules based.”
By being more “principles based”, IFRS, arguably, represents and captures the economics of a transaction better than GAAP.
The IFRS is the globally acceptable standards for companies who wants their stocks to be traded in the prime standard listing across the world.
The uplisting of Rocket Internet will also bring more scrutiny to a company that is struggling to cut losses and start declaring profits.
