The Vienna Stock Exchange will bid for the state-owned stake in the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), it emerged from a press release published on the Austrian stock exchange. In the course of the privatisation process, the Vienna Stock Exchange is still interested in acquiring 44% of BSE. The two stock exchanges are small, but very dynamic and a future merger would make them equal partners, according to Heinrich Schaller, member of the management board of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The two stock exchanges will create synergy pretty fast, according to Schaller, as BSE has decided to purchase the Xetra trading system, which the Vienna Stock Exchange has been using since 1999. Candidate buyers continue to confirm their interest in BSE, even though it is unclear as to when the privatisation procedure will be launched. For the time being, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) has pulled out of the race. The Athens Stock Exchange and OMX are still willing to bid for BSE.