The Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) has proven itself as a useful instrument for every company seeking to increase capital. Almost every week news about companies planning to float shares on the BSE has appear in the Bulgarian-language media and this week was no exception.
On October 2, information appeared in the local media about electronics retail chain Technomarket. Business information website investor.bg said that Technomarket might float shares on the BSE in the first quarter of next year. The retail chain is controlled by local trader K&K Electronics, which in turn is owned by the UK private equity firm Equest Investment Balkans. The strategy for the development of Technomarket includes a joint listing with the Romanian Domo on both the Bulgarian and Romanian stock exchanges. Equest owns 75 per cent of Technomarket, estimated at 90.3 million euro. On October 1 Equest acquired a 75 per cent stake in Domo for 62.5 million euro.
On October 1, Bulgarian investment company Holding Nov Vek said it will look to raise 20 million leva in a capital increase to secure growth. Nov Vek plans to issue 909 090 shares at 22 leva each, the company said in a statement. The holding company currently has a share capital of 649 620 leva. On October 1, shares in the company rose 4.16 per cent to 25 leva on a volume of 305 shares on the BSE.
Meanwhile the BSE told Bulgarian-language Pari daily that they plan to roll out a new information product based on the EXTRI system for information disclosure. The deadline for the new system is November this year. The decision was prompted by recent statutory amendments related to the disclosure of information by issuers of securities traded on a regulated market. According to the changes, the information has to be provided through the media, not through BSE. The new product will allow the BSE to play the role of an information agency as well.
Currently there are more than 370 public listed companies on the BSE. When bond issuers, managing companies, special purpose vehicles, etc. are added, the number reaches 600.
In other news on October 1, the Sofix index, of the 17 blue chips on the BSE, rose 0.64 per cent to 1861.52 points, while the broad BG40 index added 0.51 per cent to 541.16. Gains in industrial conglomerate Chimimport and car battery maker MonBat, among the most traded shares on the BSE, helped the indices end higher, Petko Valkov, financial analyst at the Benchmark Finance brokerage, told SeeNews wire agency. Chimimport closed 2.9 per cent higher at 17.50 leva on a volume of about 109 400 shares and MonBat gained 3.2 per cent to a close at 29.11 leva with about 38 860 shares changing hands. “Liquid companies which investors consider to have good potential will enjoy strong interest by the end of the year, because there will be no large initial public offerings soon,” Valkov said.
