News: The Zagreb Stock Exchange is approved to acquire an additional stake in the Macedonian Stock Exchange

03/16/2021 16:19
The Securities Commission of the Republic of Northern Macedonia has issued a decision to the Zagreb Stock Exchange approving the further acquisition of shares of the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
 
After the Zagreb Stock Exchange acquired a 5.3% stake in the Macedonian Stock Exchange at the end of 2019, the Macedonian regulator positively assessed the detailed documentation submitted by the Zagreb Stock Exchange and agreed to further acquire shares whose total cumulative amount does not exceed 20% of total issued shares with voting rights.
 
The Zagreb Stock Exchange intends to increase its ownership stake in the Macedonian Stock Exchange from 5.3% to 15.19% by acquiring additional 276 shares, or 9.89% of the shares of the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
 
The two stock exchanges have been cooperating very successfully for many years, exchanging know-how, and intensively since 2014, when the company SEE Link was founded together with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, in which three stock exchanges share equal shares in ownership.
 
The cooperation was further intensified in 2019, 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 30% ownership and is part of the Estonian Funderbeam Group, which manages the platform for financing start-ups. The partnership with the Macedonian Stock Exchange in this field is educational and promotional, in order to present local companies with opportunities to raise capital through this innovative platform with the aim of further business development and maturing to the stage of potential listing on the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
 
Earlier this month, the two exchanges signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of educational services that would be provided to participants from Macedonia by the Zagreb Stock Exchange Academy, and companies listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange have been participating in investment conferences organized by the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
 
Our two markets are very close. Consolidation is a natural development path not only for smaller but also for global, large capital markets. The goal is to provide markets with greater visibility, and investors and companies with a better and more economical service, as well as more opportunities for both investment and capital raising. We have been successfully cooperating with our colleagues from Macedonia for many years and our intention is to further deepen this cooperation to the mutual satisfaction and benefit of both our economies, said Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange.