Stock exchanges: Austrian appetite

The Warsaw Stock Exchange's (WSE) main regional competitor, the Vienna Stock Exchange, wants to acquire a stake in the Polish bourse. According to daily Parkiet, Vienna bourse head Michael Buhl didn't want to reveal the exact size of the stake until the terms of the WSE's privatization are made public. If the Vienna exchange wants a stake larger than five percent, however, it will need permission from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).

The Polish Treasury Ministry assured that the structure of the WSE's IPO, which is planned for Q4 of this year, will not make it possible for one investor to have a large stake. Deputy Treasury Minister Michał Chyczewski added that a strategic investor for the WSE might be chosen within two to three years.

The news came days after the WSE's bid to take a stake in the Ljubljana Stock Exchange failed and it was ejected from competition along with Nordic exchange operator OMX. Out of four binding bids submitted in March, only the Vienna and Athens bourses remain in the race for an 81-percent stake in the Slovenian bourse, according to Arkas, the firm representing the exchange's owners.

"The price offered was the main factor in choosing the best bidders," Arkas' managing director, Andrej Zejn, told Reuters. He said the sale process was expected to be completed by the end of June, after the Vienna and Athens bourses had performed due diligence. Zejn added that the stake up for sale had been increased to 81 percent, from the 64.15 percent originally offered in February.

There are 188 securities listed on the Ljubljana bourse, which has a market capitalization of R22.2 (zł.75.7) billion. The exchange is owned mostly by local banks and brokerages and the average daily turnover was R6.1 (zł.20.8) million in March.