The Australian Exchange Corporation (AEC) will go up for auction on Monday after a year-long struggle with financial stability.
The AEC, which is a state-owned company, was founded in 2008.
It’s the first Australian exchange to go up in a privatisation process since the 2008 collapse of the S&P Australian Securities Exchange.
AEC chief executive Stephen Greenwell says the company’s woes began in December 2012, when the Commonwealth Bank was sold to the Reserve Bank.
“The Australian banking sector suffered significant losses in the second quarter of 2012, and as a result, the Australian stock market experienced an immediate and severe drop in value,” Mr Greenwell said.
Mr Greenwell acknowledged the market was already volatile, with the value of Australian shares plummeting by more than 30 per cent in the final quarter of last year, when investors bought back their shares.
In 2014, the Commonwealth and Reserve Bank sold their shares in the AEC.
But Mr Greenfield says the Aec has a long-term plan for growth.
“[We] believe that we have a proven track record in Australia of building a competitive, sustainable and robust company, and we believe that our existing shareholders are well placed to deliver on that plan,” he said.
“We also believe that the Australian Government is committed to supporting AEC and supporting the Australian economy.”
The government is also in the process of privatising the ABC and the NT Government, the ABC is set to go public next year and NT Government has agreed to sell it.
For more on the ABC’s coverage of privatisation, see our Business section.
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