German Pharmaceutical Hoechst AG Launches Offering on New York Stock Exchange.(Originated from The Kansas City Star, Mo.)

Sep. 22--, the parent company of the Hoechst Marion Roussel pharmaceutical firm, is about to make the investment-world equivalent of a Broadway debut.

The German company will begin trading its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Hoechst ADRs currently are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HOEHY. Its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol will be HOE.

There is virtually no difference between buying and selling ADRs vs. other securities. Investors in ADRs hold receipts instead of shares of stock, but they receive all the capital gains and dividends of the stock. Investors avoid foreign stock regulations when they buy ADRs, which are denominated in dollars and pay dividends in dollars.

Hoechst hopes that a …