Record IPO Sets Bucharest on Path Toward EM Rank, CEO Says (1)

Romania’s stock exchange expects a surge in liquidity from the nation’s largest listing, which may eventually help obtain emerging-market status from MSCI, the bourse’s chief executive officer said.

In a deal closed on Tuesday in Bucharest, Franklin Templeton-managed Fondul Proprietatea SA raised 8.1 billion lei ($1.8 billion) from selling a stake in hydropower utility Hidroelectrica SA. Romania’s biggest producer of electricity is set to start trading on July 12.

“Our best-case scenario is the inclusion in the MSCI EM watchlist next year,” Bursa de Valori Bucuresti CEO Adrian Tanase said in an interview Thursday.

The Bucharest bourse has ...