The Vienna Stock Exchange announced on Tuesday that it has received approval from Czech regulators to acquire the Prague Stock Exchange, thereby expanding its control over exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe.
In addition to purchasing a 92.4% stake in the Prague Stock Exchange in November, the Vienna operator also acquired an 81.01% stake in the Slovenian exchange in Ljubljana in June, and holds a 50.4% stake in the Budapest Stock Exchange, where Oesterreichische Kontrollbank has an 18.4% stake. "This means that we can soon begin implementing our measures to further strengthen the Czech capital market," said Michael Buhl, CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange, commenting on the news that the Czech central bank has given the green light for the transaction to proceed.
Like other exchanges in the Central and Eastern European region, Vienna and Prague have been affected by the global financial slowdown, as investors consider the local markets too risky. Since the end of 2007, the total market capitalization of companies listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange has decreased from €157.9 billion to €69 billion at the end of last week. At the same time, the value of shares traded in Prague has nearly halved, from CZK 1.84 billion ($101.8 billion) to CZK 1.09 billion on Monday. The two parties have not disclosed the price of the agreed acquisition, but Czech media estimate the value of the Prague Stock Exchange to be between €200 million and €400 million. (H)
