Under the terms of the contract, OMX will provide implementation, customisation and on-going support services for the new platform, which will be used for trading of derivatives and cash equities.

BVC was established as a national exchange in 2001 through the combination of the stock exchanges of Bogotá, Medellín and Occidente. The BVC currently operates cash equities and fixed income markets and plans to launch a derivatives market shortly.

"With this new trading platform, BVC will have a world class, state-of-the-art trading platform which will bring BVC in line with international standards and will contribute to its strategy of attracting international institutional investors to our market," says Juan Pablo Córdoba Garcés, president, BVC.

OMX, which supplies technology to market operators around the world, says BVC is its first exchange customer in South America.

"OMX is now represented on all of the world's major continents," says Markus Gerdien, president, market technology, OMX.

News of the BVC deal comes as Nasdaq and Borse Dubai, which are engineering a buyout of OMX, say they have raised their bid for the Nordic and Baltic market operator.

In a joint statement, the two groups say they have raised their offer for the outstanding shares to SKr265 from Skr230. The latest offer equates to an aggregate consideration of around SKr32.0 billion ($4.9 billion).

Nasdaq and Borse Dubai say they have secured 47.6% of OMX shares and have "irrevocable undertakings" from major OMX shareholders inxcluding Investor and Nordea Bank to acquire their stakes. Investor holds a 10.7% stake in OMX while Nordea has said it has agreed to sell its 4.98% shareholding.

Nasdaq and Borse Dubai have also changed the minimum acceptance level to above 50% from over 90%.