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OMX

Dubai bid for OMX approved

The Swedish financial market regulator on Monday said it had approved a bid by the Emirates-based Borse Dubai to become the official owner of the Nordic and Baltic stock exchange OMX.

Published: 12 November 2007 14:26 CET
Dubai bid for OMX approved
Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/ Scanpix

“Borse Dubai fulfills the requirements to become the owner” of OMX, the regulator, known as the Finansinspektionen, said in a statement.

Borse Dubai’s cash offer of 265 kronor per share, made jointly with the US high-tech exchange Nasdaq, values OMX at some 32 billion kronor ($4.9 billion).

OMX operates exchanges in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.

In late September Borse Dubai and Nasdaq, then rivals to take over OMX, said they had joined forces to acquire it together in a deal that would give Borse Dubai 19.99 percent of US-based Nasdaq and 28 percent of the London Stock Exchange.

In a complex takeover proposal that ended months of speculation over OMX’s fate, the groups said Borse Dubai of the United Arab Emirates would follow through on a previously announced 230-kronor-per-share offer for OMX, which was subsequently sweetened.

Nasdaq would then acquire all of Borse Dubai’s OMX shares.

The regulator on September 27th ruled that Nasdaq too was qualified to become an owner of OMX.

With Monday’s decision, Borse Dubai and Nasdaq can officially launch their friendly takeover move.

STOCKS

Stockholm stock market hits new all-time high

The Stockholm stock exchange closed at a record high on Wednesday, with the OMXS index climbing 1.4 percent to smash the previous record set in 2007.

Published: 15 January 2014 17:54 CET
Stockholm stock market hits new all-time high

The OMXS closed at 430.6, besting by more than three points the previous record of 427.2 set in July 2007.

"Finally, after more than five years, we've come up to the all-time high," Nordea stock strategist Martin Guri told the TT news agency.

The Stockholm stock market's advanced was in line with developments on other exchanges around the world, and can be attributed to a new World Bank forecast indicting advances in global economic growth. Strong retail sales statistics from the United States helped as well.

Guri rejected any notion that the Stockholm exchange's recent rise was any sort of bubble, but is simply a continuation of a strong 2013.

"We had the worst financial and economic crisis since the 1930s. Now we can say that we've left it behind and are moving on to the next chapter," he said.

"The market could rise somewhere between ten and 20 percent this year."

He added that there are many signs of economic improvements, and while economic growth may not be strong, risks have deteriorated, bolstering investor confidence. 

Guri cited central banks in the US, Japan, and the eurozone for stimulating stock market growth.

"They've promised financial markets they plan to keep interest rates low," he said.

Wednesday's OMXS rise was led by heavyweights such as retailer H&M and bank Nordea, which climbed 2.7 percent and three percent, respectively, as the Swedish fashion retailer reported better than expected sales results for December.

Other market winners on Wednesday included pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, telecom equipment maker Ericsson, and truck maker Scania, all of which rose by around two percent.

The Swedish krona weakened slightly against the dollar, which can now buy 6.48 kronor. The krona-euro exchange rate remain unchanged, at 8.80 kronor to the euro.

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