=DJ UPDATE: NYSE Not Mulling Minority Stake Buy In Warsaw Bourse Now

   (Rewrites, adds detail.)

   By Marcin Sobczyk
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WARSAW (Dow Jones)--NYSE Euronext (NYX), which in July signed a strategic partnership with the Warsaw Stock Exchange, isn't currently considering buying a minority stake in the Polish stock market, NYSE Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer told a teleconference Monday.

NYSE has in the past bought minority stakes in some of the stock markets with which it had strategic partnerships, but it would be premature to talk about buying a minority stake in the Warsaw market at this point, Niederauer said.

NYSE Euronext and the Warsaw Stock Exchange said earlier in July they agreed a strategic, long-term cooperation partnership which involves the Polish bourse's cash and derivative markets migrating to the universal trading platform supplied by NYSE Technologies.

Polish Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad had told Dow Jones Newswires in June that the WSE was in talks with a strategic partner which may buy a minority stake in the business from the treasury after the company's planned November initial public offering.

WSE Chief Executive Ludwik Sobolewski said Monday he believed the Polish government would put its minority stake on the market within two or three years from its initial public offer expected in November.

The treasury ministry, now holding 98.8% of shares in the business, plans to offer around 63% of shares in WSE to the public.

NYSE considers its trading-system deal with WSE as a way to help better connect global investors to smaller markets in Central Europe, he added.

Niederauer also said he saw potential in the Warsaw Stock Exchange to become the leading stock market in Central Europe.

"We believe we've picked the right partner," he said. "We wouldn't see a need to do similar things with other exchanges in the region."

Under the strategic agreement announced between NYSE and WSE, both parties will explore new trading, market data and business development initiatives serving investors and issuers of a range of financial instruments. The agreement offers an order routing link to the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

According to Sobolewski, the WSE plans to focus on upgrading its trading platform. The current system, Warset, is already outdated despite its latency--the time it takes between an order being sent and received--being reduced several times in recent years. The new system is expected to significantly increase transaction speeds.

-By Marcin Sobczyk, Dow Jones Newswires; +48 22 447 2432; marcin.sobczyk@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 26, 2010 11:59 ET (15:59 GMT)

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