Greek bourse submits bid for Slovenia exchange-CEO

Reuters - Monday 11th of February 2008

Hellenic Exchanges, the holding company that owns the Athens stock and futures markets, has submitted a bid for Slovenia's stock exchange, the Greek bourse's chief executive officer said on Thursday.

"We submitted our non-binding offer today for 64 percent of the Slovenian exchange," Hellenic Exchanges CEO Spyros Capralos told a banking conference.

The Warsaw bourse has also said it is interested in acquiring Slovenia's stock exchange, Ljubljanska Borza, as part of regional expansion plans in central Europe.

Slovenia, which joined the European Union in 2004 along with nine other mostly east European states, became the first among the newcomers to adopt the euro.

Exchanges worldwide have been consolidating as competition heats up with the advent of alternative electronic networks, hitting trading volume and squeezing margins.

Capralos said the Greek bourse could also become an acquisition target for some larger exchange "at some point in time."

He said Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and Merrill Lynch had become members of the exchange, helping attract new investors to Greek equities.

"The capitalisation of the Greek market today exceeds 170 billion euros. International investors hold 51 percent of the total capitalisation and account for 60 percent of daily transactions," Capralos said. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

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