Just how valuable BSE is? ...USD1 billion it says
Three cheers to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which is planning to come up with an IPO next year. The exchange has selected 14 banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Barclays Capital, and UBS for its IPO planned during the first-half of 2013. This is certainly not the first bourse to get listed but it is also not commonplace to find exchanges seeking public money. To be fair, public money comes with a lot of strings attached including increased public scrutiny and higher pressure to maintain corporate governance. Now this is arguably a difficult task in this line of business, it is therefore intriguing what prompted BSE to get a public listing. The exchange is not short of cash for sure. Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) is already listed and has a market capitalization of nearly INR78.81 billion (USD1.44 billion). Incidentally, BSE is also seeking a valuation in excess of USD1 billion, according to chief executive Ashishkumar Chauhan. Arms of Indian banks Kotak Mahi