Greece's Hellenic Exchanges and Poland's Warsaw Stock Exchange are both bidding for control of Slovenia's Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
The chairman of the Athens Exchange, Spyros Capralos, confirmed yesterday that it has made a non-binding offer for a stake of around 65% in the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, which is being sold by a group of shareholders.
Says Capralos: "Our vision is to establish a single capital market in Southeastern Europe, which will retain the key characteristics of an emerging market."
Now the Warsaw Exchange says it has also bid to acquire a 64.15% share of the Slovenian bourse.
In a statement, the Warsaw Exchange says the move is part of a "strategy of active participation in the creation of a financial hub in Central and Eastern Europe through relations with foreign partners".
In December 2006 Nordic and Baltic market operator OMX made an offer to acquire the Ljubljana Stock Exchange for around EUR4.2 million, or EUR125.19 per share.