M&A

9 November, 2009

UPDATE 1-D. Boerse sole bidder for Warsaw bourse majority

* Second privatisation to attract sole bidder for control

* NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX did not bid

* Two banks offer to buy minority stakes

(Adds detail)

WARSAW, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) is the sole bidder for a controlling stake in the state-owned Warsaw bourse, the Polish treasury ministry said on Monday.

The German stock exchange, among four market operators shortlisted by Poland, confirmed on Friday it made an offer.

NYSE Euronext (NYX.PA) (NYX.N) and Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ.O) did not file bids, while the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) had previously said it was no longer interested.

The Polish state wants to sell between 51 and 73.8 percent of the exchange.

The planned sale of the Warsaw bourse is the second high profile privatisation in the last two months which managed to attract only one bidder for control of a Polish state company.

Poland, which hopes to get 37 billion zlotys ($13.1 billion) from the sale of state assets by the end of 2010, was forced to relaunch the privatisation of energy group Enea after Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) walked away from final talks last month. [ID:nLE321777]

The Warsaw bourse has built a strong position in the region, outdistancing rival Wiener Boerse in terms of the valuation of its listed companies.

With a boost from the addition of Poland's top utility PGE PGEPa.WA on Friday following Europe's largest initial public offer this year, the combined value of the 376 companies listed in Warsaw stands at some $235 billion.

The treasury ministry also said Poland's No. 2 lender Bank Pekao BAPE.WA and Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo (BES.LS) offered to take minority stakes in a separate tranche. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski; Editing by Hans Peters and David Cowell)

Source: http://www.reuters.com