The Warsaw bourse is looking to enter into a strategic alliance with one of the world's main stock exchanges to help cement its leading position in post-communist Europe, its chief executive said on November 12.
The Warsaw stock exchange has seen the market capitalisation of its domestic listed companies explode to $215.3 billion, thanks to record valuations and a steady stream of new listings seeking to tap into a growing pool of capital in the region.
The Polish exchange, which is 99-percent owned by the state, had looked for a strategic partner in the past and had even considered selling a stake to another exchange, but with little success in large part due to changing political winds.
Now Chief Executive Ludwik Sobolewski, who took the helm in June 2006, says the exchange is in talks to team up with a large foreign exchange, but he does not foresee a stake sale to cement the deal.
"We're looking for an alliance or partnership with an international dimension," Sobolewski said. "Our goal is to create a serious business relationship with another bourse, but without a capital relationship."
Sobolewski declined to name the potential partner, but local media have speculated that it could be one of the US-based exchanges, NYSE Euronext or Nasdaq.
He said the relationship would be based on an agreement about cooperation, mutual benefit, and the help such a partner could provide to build central Europe's financial centre in Warsaw.
He declined to discuss further details of the planned partnership or a deadline for any discussions. Privatisation of the bourse should not be rushed and its first stage should be the sale of a minority stake to domestic institutional investors, Sobolewski added.
The Warsaw bourse, which comprises 339 companies, has been seeking to build up its position in the region, recently bidding for a stake in the smaller Prague exchange. It also aims to buy stakes in the Ljubljana and Sofia bourses.
The Vienna bourse, whose domestic listed companies have a total market capitalisation of $233.5 billion, is Warsaw's main rival in the region.
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