Stake in BSE up for sale

One million euros. This is the asking price for the first stake in the Bucharest Stock Exchange that could change hands after the transformation of the BSE into a trading company and its merger with RASDAQ Electronic Market. The stake belongs to H&C Securities, a brokerage company based in Iasi and accounts for 1.48% in the Bucharest Stock Exchange capital. The price the company in Iasi is asking for its stake evaluates the entire BSE at 67.5 million euros. BSE”s assets prior to its merger with RASDAQ had been evaluated by PricewaterhouseCoopers at 16 million euros, to which the RASDAQ assets added, which are worth another several million euros. The stake may not be bought by anyone other than a brokerage firm, according to the Bucharest Stock Exchange law. The BSE shareholder status allows the holder to broker deals on the market. The securities firms that do not own stakes, including – as of 2007, those authorised in EU member states, may request the Bucharest Stock Exchange to allow them to broker transactions on the market in exchange for a fee. The stakes in the Bucharest Stock Exchange can be a lucrative business for brokers because of the dividends that may be derived from them and of the possibility to sell them for a higher price later. The Bucharest Stock Exchange”s business has been increasing spectacularly over the last few years, due to the substantial growth in the value of the transactions. ZF