Warsaw Stock Exchange To Become Listed Next Year

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), controlled by the Polish State Treasury, wants to list its own shares in 2009 and could be interested in buying shares in the Wiener Boerse AG, the operator of the Vienna Stock Exchange, Bloomberg announced. WSE CEO Ludwik Sobolewski, said: "One of the main obstacles for our expansion will be removed as soon as the IPO is completed. There can be no regional consolidation without the Warsaw Stock Exchange." According to him, the consolidation of the regional markets is not yet completed: "Warsaw and other exchanges should play the leading role," he said. WSE was established in 1991 and has 38 shareholders. In July, the Polish Government, which controls 98.8% in WSE, said they would sell between 25% and 35% through an IPO. WSE, Wiener Boerse and Hellenic Exchanges Holdings SA, the operator of the Athens Stock Exchange, are fighting for the leading position among emergent countries in Europe. This year, Wiener Boerse bought the majority holding in the Prague Stock Exchange and increase their holding in the Budapest Stock Exchange from 13% to 38%. They also bought 81% in the Ljubljana Stock Exchange. "There aren"t too many takeover targets left in the region, after the Wiener Boerse bought Budapest and Prague," said Sobolewski. "Our market is larger than Wiener Boerse and we could start a more intense cooperation, but we are not interested in selling WSE," he added. WSE is a shareholder in the Sibiu Monetary, Financial and Commodities Exchange (Romania) and is planning to buy the Sofia Stock Exchange if the Bulgarian Government wants to sell. In July, WSE bought 25% in Ukraine"s Innex.