Individuals invested record amounts in Europe’s capital markets and equity raisings grew by 32

Individuals invested record amounts in Europe’s capital markets and equity raisings grew by 32 per cent to US $173 billion.Third, globalisation, driven by technology, is rewriting the rules of international competition. Driven by globalisation and a consolidating Europe, the total value of merger and acquisition activity more than doubled last year to £1.25 trillion. In the more liquid euro markets European companies issued more stock than ever before last year. There are three dynamic forces shaping this growth.First, the introduction of a single currency is redrawing economic borders even as the EU debates further integration and tackles the challenge of expanding eastward.At the same time there is a burgeoning new equity culture.

We aim to have three million subscribers by 2003.We are building from a position of global strength. Indeed, The Journal has more reporters and editors posted outside our original market than the FT, the International Herald Tribune and USA Today combined. In continental Europe, we have around twice as many news staff as the FT.Europe’s business landscape is changing. Just as the companies we cover, we see an historic opportunity for growth in Europe. And we think we have both the perspective and the resources to make sense of this growth – and to share in it. We do not intend to replace any national newspaper in coverage of its own market. The Journal Europe, as Europe’s international business daily, brings the relevant news and analysis of events around the world to European business people.While we sell fewer copies than the FT in Europe, it is worth noting that The Wall Street Journal has more than two million subscribers globally compared to the FT’s 441,000.

Some 60 million euros are being invested in the newspaper to increase editorial staff by 20 per cent this year, open new print sites, improve distribution and increase our marketing efforts.
There has been some comment in the British press about the head-to-head competition between The Wall Street Journal Europe and the UK’s Financial Times. Late on Sunday night as we put out the first edition of our “new” Wall Street Journal Europe, it struck me how markedly Europe was changing. The rich content of the issue made me all the more confident we had made the right decision to change and expand our newspaper. The rich content of the issue made me all the more confident we had made the right decision to change and expand our newspaper.