December 18, 2019 – The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) acquired 5.3% ownership of the Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) in a transaction reported to the Macedonian StockExchange.
This is the second acquisition of a share in a regional stock exchange by the Zagreb Stock Exchange, after acquiring 100% ownership of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange in 2015 from the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Zagreb Stock Exchange has been successfully cooperating with the Macedonian Stock Exchange for many years, exchanging know-ho, ideas and expertise, and intensively since 2014, when SEE Link company was founded together with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, with three stock exchanges sharing equal ownership. Cooperation was intensified earlier this year, when the Macedonian Stock Exchange signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with the Croatian company Funderbeam South-East Europe (Funderbeam SEE), in which the Zagreb Stock Exchange has 20% ownership, and is part of the Estonian Funderbeam Group, which operates a startup financing platform. The partnership with the Macedonian Stock Exchange is primarily educational and promotional in order to present local companies with opportunities to raise capital through this innovative platform with the aim of further developing their business and maturing to the stage of potential listing on the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
Connecting capital markets is a logical development path not only regionally but globally as markets – especially smaller ones – need greater visibility and investors are looking for a more efficient and economical service. The experience we gained after the acquisition of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange is very positive, and we believe that some of it will be successfully implemented following our new role as MSE minority shareholders. Through our experience in Croatia and Slovenia we are aware that every regional economy needs a strong national capital market and in this respect we will help strengthen the role of the Macedonian Stock Exchange in the local economy. We believe that MSE has significant potential for growing and expanding its product range and we aim to actively participate in its development, especially in light of the alignment of Macedonian legislation with European legislation, in which we have significant experience, said Ivana Gažić, President of the Zagreb Stock Exchange Management Board.