EBKDY Ersta Group Bank AG (PK)

By Margit Feher

BUDAPEST--The Hungarian arm of Austrian lender Erste Group Bank AG said Tuesday that it was buying a 2.3% stake in the Budapest Stock Exchange from the local arm of Dutch lender ING Bank NV.

Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., which owns one of the biggest and most active Hungarian brokerage firms, Erste Befektetesi Zrt., is committed to the Budapest bourse's development strategy announced recently, the Hungarian bank's President and Chief Executive Radovan Jelasity said in a release.

The Hungarian central bank is the majority owner of the Budapest bourse with a 75.8% stake. The National Bank of Hungary raised its stake in the bourse to 75.8% in November by buying a combined 68.8% stake for 13.2 billion forints ($46.7 million) from Austrian holding company CEESEG Aktiengesellschaft AG, which also has stakes in the stock exchanges of Vienna, Prague and Ljubljana, and Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG.

Following its purchase, the central bank announced an ambitious development plan of the bourse for the coming years, aiming to increase the number of initial public offerings, attract startups and cooperate with the Hungarian government to help large, state-owned or partly state-owned companies go public.

Erste's move comes while the Hungarian government is planning to buy a 15% stake in Erste's Hungarian unit since the government regards state ownership a key to bank-sector and economic stability. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also buying another 15% stake in the Hungarian bank.

Write to Margit Feher at margit.feher@wsj.com; Twitter: @margitfeher

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 31, 2016 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)

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