Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), the largest exchange in Central Europe, and Aquis Exchange, the proposed pan-European equities trading exchange, have entered into agreement to form an alliance.
Under the terms of the agreement, WSE will acquire shares representing 30 per cent of the total vote at the Aquis Exchange general meeting and the same share of the company’s profits and will have a right to nominate two non-executive directors to the Aquis Exchange board of directors. The total transaction value is GBP5m and will be covered by WSE’s equity.
The investment aims at diversifying sources of WSE Group’s revenues and strengthening its recognition and international position in the global financial markets, including further reinforcement of WSE’s role as a financial centre in the region.
The agreement is in line with WSE’s strategic interest in developing a financial hub for Central Europe in Warsaw. Any potential plans of Aquis Exchange concerning operations in the region will be settled with WSE.
“The Polish capital market creates huge opportunities for WSE and is definitely our main focus, however, in a competitive and highly challenging environment, business diversification at an international level is a must for our company. The recent acquisition of organized commodity markets in Poland and investment in Aquis Exchange are examples of this strategy. Internationalization is also fundamental for the business we run. WSE is already the biggest exchange in the CEE region, with some 65 per cent share in equity turnover (as at June 2013), but we are still looking for new opportunities. Our objective is to do this with brave visionaries such as the Aquis Exchange team,” says Adam Maciejewski, president and chief executive of Warsaw Stock Exchange
“We are very pleased that WSE has chosen to partner with us as part of its international strategy. For us, independence is an important principle and thus having an industry backer of WSE’s calibre, but which is not a client or a competitor, is hugely beneficial. This investment secures our position ahead of our launch in October. We look forward to working with WSE as we bring the subscription pricing model to pan-European equities,” says Aquis Exchange chief executive Alasdair Haynes.
