Eurohold backs rise of Sofia bourse blue-chip index after CEZ deal approval

After trading hours on Thursday, Eurohold said it has received approval from the competition regulator to acquire the assets of Czech energy group CEZ in Bulgaria. The 335 million euro deal was initially banned by the Commission for Protection of Competition, but the ban was subsequently lifted by the court earlier this year.

The CEZ assets in the country include majority stake in two BSE-listed companies - CEZ Distribution Bulgaria [BUL:3CZ] and CEZ Electro Bulgaria [BUL:1CZ]. CEZ Distribution Bulgaria shares ended 1.67% higher, while CEZ Electro Bulgaria shares closed 0.98% lower.

Other major gainers among blue-chips included diversified group Holding Varna [BUL:5V2] and lender Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) [BUL:4CF], which added 3.66% and 1.73%, respectively.

The wider BGBX40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the Sofia bourse, added 0.59% to 98.22 points, while the BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, rose 0.25% to 485.87 points.

The BGREIT index, which tracks seven real estate investment trusts, fell 0.15% to 134.86 points.

Total daily regulated market trading turnover amounted to 1.1 million levs ($656,000/562,000 euro).

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)