Kuwait bourse in deal to sell 44 pct stake, plans IPO later (updated)

Euronext Athens Holding SA

14/02/2019 15:19

(Adds Athens bourse CEO comment)
    By Ahmed Hagagy and George Georgiopoulos
    KUWAIT/ATHENS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A consortium led by
Kuwait's National Investment Co  NINV.KW  and including the
Athens bourse won a tender to acquire 44 percent of the Kuwait
stock exchange, NIC's chairman said on Thursday.
    "The winner is the private sector, the investors and the
listed companies, all the ideas we said about developing the
bourse will be implemented," Hamad al-Omairi told Reuters.
    The consortium that won the tender also includes Arzan
Financial Group  ARZA.KW  and First Investment  OLAK.KW.  It
offered 0.237 Kuwaiti dinar ($0.78) per share for the stake.
    Kuwait's stock exchange has plans for an initial public
offering at a later stage, the CEO of the Athens bourse
 EXCr.AT  said.
    "There are plans by the Kuwait exchange for an IPO at a
later stage to sell 50 percent and get listed," Socrates
Lazaridis, CEO at Hellenic Exchanges told Reuters in Athens.
    Under the plan, a further 6 percent stake will go to
Kuwait's main pension fund as part of the bourse's
privatisation, he said.
    "Our main role as part of the consortium will be to provide
the technical infrastructure, install our trading system and
help on business development strategy," Lazaridis said.
    The winning consortium that includes two local players and
an international stock market operator competed against a bid by
Spain's stock exchange which had teamed up with a Kuwait
commercial bank, he said.
    Hellenic Exchanges  EXCr.AT , which is about 60 percent
owned by foreign investors, operates Greece's stock and futures
markets.
      
($1 = 0.3036 Kuwaiti dinars)

 (Writing by George Georgiopoulos
Editing by Alexandra Hudson and David Evans)
 ((george.georgiopoulos@thomsonreuters.com; +30210 337 6437;
Reuters Messaging:
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