WSE bids high for PSE

Vienna stock market operator Wiener Boerse and Nasdaq OMX each offered around €180 (zł.616) million for a 100-percent stake in the PSE, while NYSE Euronext bid €150 (zł.513.8) million.

A PSE spokesperson declined to comment. Petr Koblic, CEO of the PSE, strongly opposes the idea of the bourse being taken over by the WSE. In a recent interview with Radio Impuls he described the WSE as the "worst possible investor."

The Warsaw bourse is likely to be undeterred by such rhetoric. In late September, WSE president  Ludwik Sobolewski said that, given his bourse's regional aspirations, it was unimaginable that it should not take part in the PSE sale.

In August, shareholders of the Prague bourse announced they were interested in seeking a strategic partner to take a controlling stake in order to boost development of the PSE, which is valued by analysts at up to €209 (zł.715.5) million. However, they do not want to sell the bourse to a state-owned investor such as the WSE.