Concerns are growing among long-term shareholders of Hellenic Exchanges (ATHEX Group) regarding the share-swap transaction with Euronext N.V., which is increasingly viewed as having delivered weaker-than-expected outcomes for investors who supported it. Shareholders who accepted the offer in November 2025, encouraged by expectations of a “strategic upgrade” for the Athens Stock Exchange, have since seen the value of their holdings decline, while the anticipated benefits have yet to materialise.
Under the terms of the agreement, ATHEX shareholders received 0.05 Euronext shares for each ATHEX share, implying a valuation of €6.75 per ATHEX share. Today, ATHEX is trading at €5.88, roughly 13% below the level at which the exchange ratio was set, fuelling criticism over whether the Greek exchange operator was fairly valued.
Euronext’s initial non-binding and conditional proposal was submitted on 1 July 2025, when ATHEX shares were trading at €6.03. That offer valued ATHEX at €6.90 per share, based on an exchange ratio of 21.029 ATHEX shares for one new Euronext share, using the closing prices of 30 June 2025, when Euronext stock stood at €145.10. A few weeks later, as Euronext shares climbed to a yearly high of €153.50, a revised proposal raised ATHEX ’s implied valuation to €7.14 per share, with an exchange ratio of 20 to 1, reinforcing perceptions of a generous bid.
That perception has since been undermined by Euronext’s share-price performance. By the time ATHEX ’s board unanimously approved the transaction on 15 October 2025, Euronext shares had already fallen to €127.10 and were trading around €126 during the acceptance period. As of 4 February 2026, Euronext stock has declined further to €114, effectively invalidating the assumptions underpinning the deal’s valuation.
Shareholders argue that the outcome is all the more striking given the strong rally in the Athens Stock Exchange itself. On 30 June 2025, prior to Euronext’s proposal, the Athens
General Index stood at 1,868 points, with average daily trading turnover of €216 million. Since then, the index has surged beyond 2,400 points, while daily turnover has nearly doubled to around €400 million, signalling a market with far stronger momentum and profitability.
Despite this improvement in market conditions, ATHEX ’s share price has remained largely stagnant, edging down from €5.99 in late June 2025 to €5.88 today. Critics of the transaction argue that, had ATHEX remained independent, the benefits of sharply higher trading volumes and revenues would have accrued directly to its shareholders. Instead, they contend that these gains are now flowing to Euronext, leaving former ATHEX shareholders holding a declining stock and turning what was billed as a strategic partnership into what many now see as a transfer of value rather than its creation.
