Bourse record: KBC brokers account for over 50% of the market in February

The record deals through which the EBRD sold 5% of BRD stock on the Bourse for 107m euros brought KBC Securities brokers an over 50% market share in February, a record for the Romanian capital market.

The brokerage unit of Belgium's KBC bank had received EBRD's mandate for the sale of the 5% stake in BRD as early as the end of 2010, and KBC's domestic brokers sought investors among foreign institutional clients, with the stake being in the end won by US Artio, the biggest foreign investors domestically, among KBC's most important clients.

Bogdan Juravle, one of the most powerful domestic brokers, landed a similar placement in 2007, when they sold 15% in Zentiva Bucuresti drug maker for 31m euros.

In January, when FP was listed, KBC Securities managed to seal the biggest transactions, of over 90m euros, hitting a 20% market share. KBC brokers were the most dynamic on the market in February as well. Excepting BRD deals, they handled deals worth 75m euros, double the ones arranged by the Czech Wood, which ranked second, with 35m euros.