Fondul Proprietatea listing on finishing strait

With assets worth above 2.5bn euros and stakes in the most important energy firms in the economy, Fondul Proprietatea (Property Fund) is taking a major step toward floatation on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by launching the broker selection procedure. The broker's main task will be to draw up the Fund admission to trading prospect, with the operation to be carried out directly, without a public stock offering.

Brokerages and banks' brokerage arms can submit offers by August 13. Interested parties can file an offering on their own behalf or tie up in a consortium. The acquisition contract will be awarded on the basis of the "technically and economically best offer" criterion. Firms interested in FP listing include BT Securities and Intercapital Invest, among the most powerful Romanian-held brokerages on the domestic market. "We're interested in handling the Fund's listing. However, given the size of the domestic capital market, the low liquidity and the small number of listings, I expect many brokers to come up with a zero fee, with the popularity and publicity they'll gain should they win the contract as the main benefit. Normally, the value of such a contract would amount to 40-50,000 euros," said Rare[ Nila[, BT Securities general manager.