France’s Lightning Stock Exchange, known as Lise, is preparing to host what could become Europe’s first fully on-chain stock market, a step that introduces tokenization into the initial public offering (IPO) process.
The Paris-based exchange, approved last year under the European distributed ledger technology (DLT) pilot scheme, plans to list French aerospace supplier ST Group on April 9, according to a press release on Thursday.
ST Group manufactures composite parts used in aircraft, defense systems and space programs. The company says it has about 59 million euros ($68 million) in potential revenue over the next decade and aims to increase production as demand increases in aerospace and military supply chains.
Tokenization has gained traction among large financial companies that use blockchain rails to settle transactions and track ownership of assets such as bonds, funds and stocks. Proponents say tokenization could improve capital markets with cheaper, faster settlements and more efficient operations. Wall Street giants like Nasdaq and NYSE have also drawn up plans for trading tokenized securities on their platforms.
Lise takes this concept further by moving the IPO process itself on-chain. The exchange focuses on small and medium-sized companies that would face high costs and long delays when raising capital in traditional markets. It is backed by French lenders such as BNP Paribas, CACEIS (a subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group) and Bpifrance.
ST Group’s debut, if successful, could offer smaller companies a cheaper and faster path to public procurement under EU rules.
Read more: EU risks falling behind US on tokenization rules, digital asset firms warn
