Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Inter-Continental Exchange eyes ICICI Bank’s NCDEX stake; LSE, SGX approach Inter-connected Stock Exchange for stake

Inter-Continental Exchange (ICE), an exchange for energy derivatives wants to buy ICICI Bank’s stake in the National Commodities and Derivative Exchange (NCDEX). ICICI Bank is one of the promoters of NCDEX, along with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and agricultural refinance bank, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). ICICI Bank is reportedly looking for a buyer for all or part of its 8% stake.

This comes in the wake of a massive consolidation in the domestic stock exchanges. Already, The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is discussing the possibility of acquiring equity in the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). The NSE has brought in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a partner with 5% equity. Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is discussing a strategic partnership with Deutsche Bourse, SGX and NASDAQ. BSE is also negotiating for a stake in the Ahmedabad-based on-line exchange NMCE (the National Multi-Commodity Exchange) to gain a presence in commodity futures trading and improve its valuations. NMCE, in turn, may issue new shares to BSE to get additional funds for expansion.

Read the Business Standard article.
See Related Posts:
NYSE, Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, SAIF to buy 26% in NSE
Deutsche Borse, Singapore Stock Exchange in race to acquire BSE interest

In a related development, the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) and some top private equity players have shown an interest in The Inter-Connected Stock Exchange of India (ISE), an exchange floated by a group of small exchanges, which is fast completing its revival strategy to attract global peers. The exchange will soon be presenting a proposal to SEBI about the future plans and product initiatives of the exchange. ISE has received a one-year extension to complete its corporatization till September 15, 2007. There is a possibility for this to happen as the SEBI plans to provide a third stock exchange platform to investors, especially for small and medium enterprises, which are located in tier-III or tier-IV cities. The valuation process of the exchange is expected to be over within three to four weeks. The ISE is promoted by 13 regional stock exchanges, which include bourses from Bangalore, Cochin, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Mangalore. ISE has a network that covers nearly 134 cities across 25 states.

Read the Business Standard article.

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