The
shareholders of Montenegro’s two stock exchanges approved their
merger on Friday in a move expected to enhance trading and boost
liquidity on the tiny capital market, the bourses said.
Serbian-Montenegrin
diversified holding company Atlas Group raised its holdings in the
two bourses in November, becoming the single largest shareholder in
each of them. The group announced its merger initiative back then,
adding the next step could be the attracting of a quality strategic
partner for the merged entity.
“I
hope the merger would be completed in the next two to three months,”
the head of the trade supervision department of the Montenegro Stock
Exchange, Nedeljko Suskavcevic, told SeeNews.
The
Executive Director of NEX Montenegro bourse, Mila Redzepagic, said in
a statement: “The creation of a single, strong and competitive
bourse will definitely result in a more transparent and liquid
capital market, which would smoothly integrate into the future
regional capital market.”
“The
connecting of the single bourse to the international capital market
would secure a more serious presence of foreign investors on the
domestic capital market,” the statement added.
Currently,
companies traded on the unofficial market on one of the exchanges can
be traded on the unofficial market of the other one as well.
NEX
also said the merger would contribute to more dynamic development of
the capital market, increase Business profitability, improve existing
securities regulation and market supervision and speed up the
implementation of European standards in financial dealings.
The
Montenegro Stock exchange is the older bourse in the Adriatic country
of 620,000 people, established in 1993. NEX Montenegro was set up in
2001.
Following
the November transactions, Atlas Group controls 47% of Montenegro
Stock exchange and 38% of NEX Montenegro, the head of Atlas
Group-owned investment fund Atlas Mont, Djordje Djurdjic, told
SeeNews in November.
The
Zagreb Stock exchange, Nordic stock exchange operator OMX and the
Vienna bourse have previously indicated interest in entering the
Montenegrin capital market Montenegro as there was no single bourse,
no single address to call at. but have taken no steps towards doing
so. According to Djurdjic, investors were wary to follow through with
their plans in
Atlas
Group comprises 25 companies based in Serbia and Montenegro. (Source:
seenews.com)
