Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) is in talks to acquire a 30% stake in Aquis Exchange, the new London-based MTF set to launch in October.
WSE said it is looking at buying up to 30% of Aquis in order to further diversify its business. The group is also currently in talks with the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG) over a potential merger or co-operation agreement.
Aquis exchange believes the deal will offer significant opportunities for cross access between market participants in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe.
WSE president and CEO, Adam Maciejewski, said: “With a constantly changing environment in the capital markets, diversification of the business at the international level is a must for our company.
“Acquisition of organised commodity markets in Poland and investment in Aquis Exchange are examples of the well thought-out and long-term strategy of WSE.”
UK-headquartered Aquis is set to launch a pan-European equities market, structured as a multilateral trading facility (MTF), in October pending regulatory approval.
Aquis is headed by CEO Alasdair Haynes, former CEO of Europe’s largest equity trading venue Chi-X Europe. He is hoping to shake up European equities trading with new order types and pricing models.
Speaking to theTRADEnews.com today, Haynes said: “I can confirm that we are in talks with the Warsaw Stock Exchange to take a potential stake in Aquis ahead of our October launch.”
“Any potential tie-up would offer extraordinary benefits for both parties, especially in cross access for clients between Western Europe between East and Central Europe.”
Aquis is hoping to differentiate itself from competitors with a unique pricing model, which abandons the traditional MTF fee structures by not discriminating between passive and aggressive liquidity. Instead Aquis will offer a subscription model which does not favour certain types of marker participants.
Polish WSE is the largest single market in Central and Eastern Europe and has recently been looking at expansion plans as exchanges in Western Europe are increasingly consolidating.