France’s Lightning exchange, known as Lise, is preparing to host what could be Europe’s first fully onchain exchange debut, a move that brings tokenization into the initial public offering (IPO) process.
The Paris-based exchange, which was approved last year under the EU’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) pilot regime, plans to list French aerospace supplier ST Group on April 9, according to a press release on Thursday.
ST Group builds composite parts used in aircraft, defense systems and space programs. The company says it has about 59 million euros ($68 million) in potential program revenue over the next decade and aims to scale output as demand increases across aerospace and military supply chains.
Tokenization has gained traction among large financial firms that use blockchain rails to settle trades and track ownership of assets such as bonds, funds and stocks. Proponents say tokenization can improve capital markets with cheaper and faster settlements and more efficient operations. Wall Street giants such as Nasdaq and NYSE have also laid out plans for tokenized securities trading on their platforms.
Lise pushes that concept further by moving the IPO process itself onchain. The exchange focuses on small and medium-sized companies that will face high costs and long timelines when raising capital through traditional markets. It is backed by French lenders such as BNP Paribas, CACEIS (a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Group) and Bpifrance.
ST Group’s debut, if successful, could offer a plan for smaller companies a cheaper and faster route to public markets within European rules.
Read more: EU risks falling behind US in tokenization rules, digital asset firms warn
