Yesterday one of the leading operators of the Scandinavian stock market, Swedish company OMX, bought 100% shares of the Armenian stock market and central depositary. The shares will be handed over to OMX on January 3, 2008. The price of the transaction has not been informed yet. The document was signed by PM Serzh Sargsyan on the part of the Armenian government, and on the part of OMX it was signed by the executive director of the company, Magnus Bloker. The document was signed during a Yerevan-Stockholm TV live broadcast bridge. To note, on April 28 of this year the parties signed a memorandum of intention on this transaction. “This is not just a business for us, but a company is coming to Armenia, which has experience, traditions, good name, which will help us to improve our capital market. The RA government considers the development of the capital market as a very important factor of the economy future development and we are really ready to work with OMX to pursue our potential goals,” said PM Serzh Sargsyan. Concerning this transaction the CB president Tigran Sargsyan said, “The entrance of OMX into the Armenian capital market will encourage the development of the country’s stock market and will create better opportunities for the Armenian companies to attract inner and foreign investment resources into their businesses”. According to Russian web page Lenta.ru, this transaction is a part of the strategy of OMX to enter the developing markets with good potential. By coincidence, in March month of this year OMX announced about the foundation of a new international stock market, IXSP, jointly with the Russian “Saint Petersburg” stock market and RX group. Before that transaction one of the largest US stock markets, Nasdaq, offered $3.3 billion for buying OMX, however the transaction did not take place. As for the mentioned transaction with Armenia, yesterday OMX published a statement reading that even though the Armenian market is very small with some indicators, the company sees a potential based on a number of factors. OMX Group, which was founded in 2003, now controls about 80% of the stock markets of Scandinavian and Baltic countries. In 2006 the profit of the company made $516.7 million, and the net profit made $121 million.
Z. Sargsyan
