Online BusinessCanadian investment firm plans to buy 5% stake in NSE
Canadian investment firm Urbana Corporation has said it is looking to buy a 5 per cent stake in India"s largest bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE), for an estimated Rs 600 crore.
For the intended acquisition, Urbana"s investment firm Caldwell Investment Management has signed an agreement with leading financial intermediary IL&FS to identify the banks and institutional shareholders of NSE, who are interested in selling their equity.
However, it warned that "while Urbana intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to purchase equity shares in NSE, there can be no assurance that equity shares in the NSE will be available for purchase after the closing of the offering or that Urbana will be able to buy such shares on terms acceptable to Urbana".
If it fails to acquire NSE shares, the funds could be utilised for buying stake in other stock or derivative bourse.
Urbana also holds equity in NYSE Euronext and Chicago Board Options Exchange, among other bourses.
Caldwell is registered as an FII in India with the market regulator Sebi and is looking to acquire the NSE shares through FII route, as the FDI limit of 26 per cent has already been reached in the bourse.