Urbana Corp. today announced that it has entered into agreements to purchase an initial position in the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) from Concorde Securities Private Company Ltd. and other Hungarian investors. Concorde will retain an equity interest in the BSE.

Toronto-based Urbana, in partnership with other investment vehicles managed by Caldwell Investment Management Ltd., has agreed to purchase 4.17% of the BSE. This purchase is expected to close this month, after which Urbana will own 3.13% of the BSE and other Caldwell vehicles will own 1.04%.

A private company based in Hungary, the BSE is the securities exchange for one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.

This will be the first acquisition for Urbana and Caldwell in both Hungary and central Europe. As part of the purchase arrangement, Caldwell and Concorde have agreed to cooperate with each other in working with the BSE and other securities exchanges in the region.

Urbana’s current focus is buying seats and shares in private and public securities exchanges in North America and around the world.