OREANDA-NEWS. July 27, 2010. ARMADA (MICEX, RTS: ARMD) announced that its shares quoted on the MICEX Stock Exchange have been transferred from the Innovative and Growth Companies Sector (IGC Sector) to the main List of Securities Admitted to Trading on MICEX, and were simultaneously included in the Quote List B. The changes took effect on July 14, 2010.

As General Director of the MICEX Stock Exchange Konstantin Korishchenko said, "ARMADA is a pioneer in the Innovative and Growth Companies Sector. It was the first among Russia’s IT companies to stage a full-fledged IPO on the Russian stock market. The IGC Sector was first introduced in 2007 as a tool permitting high-growth innovative companies to attract investment for their further development so as to later be promoted to the main stock market segment on MICEX. The upgrade in the listing level testifies to the fact that ARMADA, as a public company, successfully implemented its development strategy, enhanced its corporate governance and brought its business to maturity."

ARMADA held a successful IPO in 2007 on Russian stock exchanges MICEX and RTS. On MICEX, its shares were floated in the IGC Sector. The funds raised through the IPO (USD 29.5m) put ARMADA in a position to acquire Soyuzinform, PM Expert and ETC — three IT companies that broadened the group’s product range and now form the group’s core, along with ARMADA Soft and Helios IT-Solutions.

"Our IT industry is closing in on a new crucial point in its development. The government has launched the transition from building the IT infrastructure to investing in software development and IT services. We have no doubt that ARMADA’s further potential can only be achieved through aggressive and rapid growth in the IT services and software development sectors, and we have set the objective of gaining 3—5 percent of the market in the mid-term. The positive change in ARMADA’s listing on MICEX will contribute to the achievement of this goal," Chairman of ARMADA’s Board of Directors Alexei Kuzovkin said.