Greece and Athens have all the conditions to develop into a regional center of financial activities for companies from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as stated by the CEO of Euronext, Stéphane Boujnaj, during a press conference a while ago.

The head of the European brokerage group pointed out that the Athens Stock Exchange can act as a benchmark for Greek and Balkan businesses, creating a stronger capital market ecosystem in the region. “Athens has the geographical and institutional position to be a pole of attraction for investments and listed companies from neighboring countries”, he underlined.

In the context of the presentation linked to Euronext’s public offer to acquire a 90% stake in HEXAE, Mr. Boujnaj also referred to the Greek interests in shipping companies listed on the Oslo market, which is a member of the Euronext group. As he noted, “today there are two to three shipping companies of Greek origin in the Oslo market, and after the completion of the public proposal we will seek to have them come to the Athens Stock Exchange as well.”

With reference to the HEXA acquisition offer, he clarified that the offered price is not going to increase, pointing out that “if the public proposal is not successful, the acquisition will not take place”. As he said, “the Athens Stock Exchange is a monopoly and distributes 100% of its dividends, while Euronext distributes 50%, as it reinvests the rest in new development initiatives.”

Mr. Boujnaj also underlined that joining the Euronext network offers access to 42% more liquidity for listed companies, while commissions in the Greek market are currently about 2.5 times higher than in the rest of Europe and pledged that they will decrease.

“Our goal is not to maintain a monopoly market, but to open it up. We are investing in a country we believe in and we want to support the dynamics of the Greek capital market”, he concluded.