Leading agricultural commodity exchange NCDEX has decided to sell a 26 per cent stake to Jaypee Capital through the issue of fresh equity.
“The exchange will sell a 26 per cent stake to Jaypee Capital through the issue of fresh shares,” a senior NCDEX official said.
National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) is issuing fresh shares to raise the equity capital of the exchange to Rs 50 crore, in line with the new norms which national exchanges have to adopt by the end of this month, he said.
As of now, the exchange's equity capital stands at Rs 37.5 crore, the official said, adding that following the deal, the equity base of existing shareholders will automatically come down.
The official, however, did not divulge the deal size.
The sale of a 26 per cent stake will make Japyee Capital an anchor investor in the exchange and the entire process of issuing fresh shares will take at least 2-3 months time.
Last week, ratings agency Crisil had sold a 7 per cent stake in the bourse to Shree Renuka Sugars. Following this, the holding of Shree Renuka Sugars went up to 12 per cent from 5 per cent.
Crisil, which had a 12 per cent stake in NCDEX, had to reduce it to 5 per cent by September as per the guidelines of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
The government has made it mandatory for any foreign entity to limit its stake in a commodity exchange to 5 per cent.
Crisil is the Indian arm of global ratings agency Standard & Poor's.
Earlier this year, Fidelity reduced its stake in MCX from 9 per cent to 5 per cent to meet the DIPP norms.
NCDEX, India's second biggest agri-commodity bourse, had registered a turnover of Rs 1,03,186 crore in August, 2010.
The turnover of the 23 commodity bourses in the country rose by 49.38 per cent to Rs 9,04,686 crore in August this year, despite low business recorded during the month at leading exchanges, according to the Forward Markets Commission.
Source: Financial Express