Warsaw bourse attracts buying interest - paper
WARSAW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Nasdaq-OMX (NDAQ.O), LSE (LSE.L) and the Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) may be interested in buying the Warsaw Stock Exchange, daily Parkiet said on Saturday, quoting Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad.
The government plans to sell its entire stake in the Warsaw stock exchange in two-three years' and offer up to 73.8 percent in the first stage of the sell-off, Grad announced on Thursday.
The treasury, which now holds almost 99 percent in Central and Eastern Europe's largest equity market, plans to sell at least a 51 percent stake to a strategic investor or a consortium of strategic and financial investors.
"There is big interest from European stock exchanges, such as ... LSE and Deutsche Boerse," Grad was quoted by Parkiet as saying.
The newspaper said neither commented when asked about their possible interest in the Warsaw bourse.
The government initially planned to sell up to two-thirds of the $169 billion bourse by offering shares to institutional investors and in a public-share offer.
But the ministry was forced to revise its plans after the global financial turmoil halved the Warsaw indices in 2008 and the president blocked legislation allowing the sale.
The ministry said on Thursday it would launch the process only when the Constitution Tribunal ends the presidential veto. The Warsaw bourse, whose 373 listings include several of the region's largest stocks such as Hungarian oil group MOL MOLB.BU and Czech utility CEZ (CEZPsp.PR), has struggled to secure top regional position, losing the battle for control over Prague, Budapest, and Ljubljana markets to the Vienna bourse. (Writing by Karolina Slowikowska, Editing by Peter Blackburn)
