Atrium to list on Euronext, swap Vienna certificates

VIENNA Aug 11 (Reuters) - Atrium European Real Estate ATRV.VI, one of emerging Europe's top developers, will create a second listing for its shares on Euronext Amsterdam, where they will begin to trade on Aug. 19, Atrium said on Tuesday.

At the same time, Atrium will swap the Vienna-listed certificates representing its shares into common stock, it said in a statement, removing corporate governance ambiguities that had irritated investors in the past. Atrium, formerly known as Meinl European Land and based on the British Channel island of Jersey, was launched by closely held Meinl Bank and angered shareholders with secret share buybacks in 2007 that are now being probed by state prosecutors.

Its new owners, a group led by Israeli investor Gazit Globe (GLOB.TA), have previously flagged plans for the second listing in Amsterdam and have made clear they want to attract a new investor audience and distance the company from its past.

"We believe that the listing on Euronext Amsterdam will bring significant benefits," said Atrium Chief Executive Rachel Levine in the statement.

"It opens Atrium up to a far wider universe of potential investors, which we believe should result in increased analyst coverage, greater liquidity in Atrium's shares and enhanced pricing over the longer term," she said.

Atrium will report second-quarter results on Aug. 21.

Shares in Atrium, which develops and operates shopping malls in the former Communist part of Europe and in Turkey, have more than tripled in value since an all-time low of 1.22 euros in March, when investors fled emerging European stocks.

They traded up 0.8 percent at 3.82 euros by 0744 GMT. (Reporting by Boris Groendahl, editing by Will Waterman)