Eastern European stock exchanges seek partners

According to the business newspaper Világgazdaság, following the example of its Slovenian counterpart the Czech stock exchange is now seeking a majority shareholder. Major international stock exchange operators have expressed great interest. "There are two reasons for this lively interest. Firstly, the confidence of Western investors in Eastern Europe's economic environment has grown in the past years. ... Secondly, strategic calculations appear to be a major factor behind the takeover of the Czech stock exchange. Almost every country in the Eastern European region has its own stock exchange. Taken individually, the transactions they make are insignificant by Western standards, and they make only small profits. But the market as a whole - including the stock exchanges in Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia - appears to be increasingly attracting the interest of international stock exchange players. None of the leading global stock exchange operators has so far set a foot in the region. This could now change."

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