Norwegian exchange operator Oslo Børs has completed its purchase of Nordic-focused multilateral trading facility Burgundy after regulators approved the acquisition.
The takeover, initially mooted last October, has been signed off by authorities in Sweden and Norway and paves the way for tougher competition between Nordic venue operators.
Oslo Børs is the only Scandinavian exchange operated independently of Nasdaq OMX Nordic and experts have said the deal signals a shift from venue competition in Europe based on incumbent national exchanges fighting off pan-European multilateral trading facilities.
Following the integration of the two trading venues, Burgundy will press ahead with expansion plans including the listing of exchange-traded funds, structured notes, warrants and corporate bonds. It has also revealed plans to establish a customer-based advisory board in Sweden, the venue’s most successful market.
Burgundy was set up in 2009 by a consortium of 14 Nordic financial institutions and offers trading in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish shares. It has 34 trading members and traded 2.4% of Swedish blue chips in December. Nasdaq OMX Stockholm traded 45.7% in the same month.
Millennium shift
Burgundy will also migrate to the London Stock Exchange Millennium Exchange trading technology, after Oslo Børs completed a similar switch for its domestic market in November. Although no exact date has been set, Oslo Børs confirmed the migration was on track for Q2 2013.
Shifting to Millennium will mean members will have the ability to access both markets using a single connection.
Burgundy CEO Olof Neiglick, who will stay on in his role, said the takeover would offer strategic opportunities for Burgundy’s next phase of growth, including the shift to a new trading platform.
“By switching to Millennium, we will have a shared technology infrastructure with exchanges in Oslo, London and Milan, which automatically puts us on the radar of over 400 brokers in Europe and beyond,” he said, speaking to theTRADEnews.com in October.