NSE stake may go to five investors
By The proposed sale of sta | 10 Jan 2007
Indian FIIs IL&FS, IFCI, IDBI and ICICI Bank, are said to be selling their holdings in the exchange to Goldman Sachs and NYSE in separate deals.
The valuation of the NSE is expected to be over $2 billion. Some of the biggest global players have already taken a stake in commodity exchanges. Fidelity was first one to enter when it bought around 9 per cent stake in MCX; later, Goldman acquired over 7 per cent in NCDEX, the other online comex.
The proposed sale of stakes comes close on the heels of guidelines issued by the RBI on foreign investment in Indian stock exchanges. The RBI has allowed foreign investment up to 49 per cent in stock exchanges, fixing foreign direct investment (FDI) cap at 26 per cent and FII limit at 23 per cent. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has stipulated investment limit for single foreign investor at 5 per cent beyond which an FII or any other investor like foreign stock exchange will not raise its stake in stock exchanges.
NSE has 21 promoters some of which include LIC, ICICI Bank, IL&FS and IDFC. ICICI holds 12.5 per cent while IL&FS has 7.1 per cent. NSE made a net profit of Rs206 crore on a revenue of Rs 472 crore. In FY07 it is expected to report a profit of Rs250 crore due to a fabulous bull run.
It has a 70-per cent share of all stock transactions in India.