Finance
Euronext lowers acceptance threshold for buying Athens bourse
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 8, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 8, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Euronext reduces its acceptance threshold for acquiring the Athens bourse to 50% plus one share, aiming to consolidate European markets.
(Reuters) -Pan-European exchange operator Euronext on Friday said it is cutting the acceptance threshold from 67% to 50% plus one share of the voting rights in its bid to take control of the Athens stock exchange.
On Oct 6, Euronext made an offer to buy up to 100% of Hellenic Exchanges - the operator of the Athens bourse - in a move aimed at consolidating European capital markets, as it sees fragmentation as one of the reasons behind a competitiveness gap with U.S. markets.
The acceptance threshold refers to the minimum percentage of shareholders who must accept the offer for the bid to proceed.
"To date, Euronext’s voluntary exchange offer has not attracted any competing offers, and, in line with Greek law, no further offers can now be submitted," it said in a statement.
The lower threshold provides shareholders of the ATHEX Group, which operates the Greek capital market, who want to sell their stakes a greater chance to secure the premium offered by Euronext, it said.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
An acceptance threshold is the minimum percentage of shareholders that must agree to a takeover bid for it to proceed. In this case, Euronext lowered it to 50% plus one share.
The Athens bourse, officially known as the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX), is the main stock exchange in Greece where securities are traded.
Euronext is a pan-European stock exchange that operates markets in several countries, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal, facilitating the trading of various financial instruments.
Hellenic Exchanges is the operator of the Athens Stock Exchange and is responsible for the management and operation of the exchange and its trading systems.
Competing offers in a takeover bid refer to alternative proposals made by other companies to acquire the same target company, which can influence the outcome of the original bid.
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