Innogenetics, the Belgian biotechnology company which was the first firm to list on Easdaq in 1996, has dealt a blow to Easdaq by revealing that it is planning to list on Euronext, the exchange created by the merger of the stock exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

The decision by Innogenetics underlines the potential threat to the nascent pan-European growth market of some of its biggest companies defecting to larger and more liquid exchanges. In September, Ubizen, a Belgian internet security firm, launched a dual listing on Euronext to enable it to tap into the retail investor market. Bricsnet, a Belgian software company, is also considering moving to Euronext.