Warpaint London starts secondary listing for its shares in US

Colour cosmetics specialist supplier Warpaint London is targeting US growth and as part of that has begun trading its shares on the OTCQX Best Market in the US, an important and growing market for its key brands.

The W7 and Technic brands producer/retailer started trading today (23 May) under the ticker symbol WPNTF.

Warpaint’s ordinary shares will continue to trade on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

It said it believes having its ordinary shares cross-traded on OTCQX “will provide enhanced investor benefits, including easier trading access for certain investors located in the United States, and greater liquidity due to a broader geographic pool of potential investors”.

Further, through trading on OTCQX, it said the company will be able to engage with US investors, data distributors and media partners, ensuring that they have access to the same level of information and disclosure available to investors in the United Kingdom, but through US-facing platforms and portals”.

In addition, the OTCQX trading facility will provide US-based and other investors with the ability to trade Warpaint’s ordinary shares in US dollars during US market hours.

It noted no new ordinary shares will be issued as part of the commencement of trading, that it will continue to make announcements and disclosures to the London Stock Exchange, and will have no Sarbanes-Oxley or SEC public company reporting requirements.

CEO Sam Bazini said: “This new US trading facility comes on the back of an already increased level of interest from US investors given the progress the company is making with significant retailers in the US.”

In the US, Warpaint’s expansion is continuing apace. Its Q1 included expansion into CVS while expanding its W7 range and a rollout to a further 387 stores and announced a significant Christmas order from Walmart for W7 and Chit Chat product with discussions ongoing to stock the group’s year-round product.

There is also significant expansion planned with Five Below during H1 with an increased range of W7 product in all 1,544 of its stores. A further 225-plus Five Below stores expected to open in the next 12 months stocking W7.