Saturday September 29, 02:22 AM
Merrill Lynch, Citibank pick up 10% stake in MCX for Rs 480 cr
|
|
By Commodities Bureau
Merrill Lynch and Citigroup have acquired 5% each in Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) from promoter Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL). In addition, FTIL has also signed definitive agreements with two leading foreign institutional investors (FIIs), Passport India Investment (Mauritius) Ltd and GLG Financials Fund, for the sale of 3% and 2% stake, respectively, in MCX. MCX has received valuations of $1-1.1 billion (around Rs 4,400 crore) for these transactions, FTIL said in an announcement to BSE. According to market sources and based on its disclosure, FTIL will fetch roughly Rs 480 crore from selling the 10% stake in MCX, and its holding will come down to 49%. Jignesh Shah, managing director, MCX, told FE, "We believe that these investments reflect the global investors' confidence in the Indian economy and financial market reforms adopted by the government and our regulators. These fresh investments from strategic international partners will help create the entire ecosystem infrastructure. These investments can help propel the growth of our ventures to the next level." FTIL plans to invest the proceeds from the stake sale in organic and other growth opportunities, including greenfield exchanges and ecosystem infrastructure ventures such as National Spot Exchange Ltd and National Bulk Handling Corporation among others, in local and global markets. FTIL shares gained 6.10% on the BSE to close at Rs 2,755 on Friday.
|
