Jignesh shah's promoted Financial Technologies has fully exited from Multi Commodity Exchange. Today the company sold 5% on stock exchanges. MCX was promoted by it in 2003 and it has to exit following FMC order declaring it not fit to run the exchange.

These shares have been bought by SBI life, IDFC, Reliance MF among others. With today's sale, FTIL totally sold 26% stakeand raised Rs 892.18 crore.

Exit by FTIL also opens door for MCX to get approvals for its plans and contracts without which MCX was strangulating as FMC was not approving its contracts. MCX volumes were not rising and in last few days it started falling sharply simply because there were hardly one or two contracts left limiting hedging options and positions could not be carried forward. There is no contract beyond December on MCX as of now.

Out of 5% sale by FTIL, 2.69% sale took place on BSE while on NSE it sold 2.31%. SBI Life Insurance today picked up Financial Technologies approximately 0.6% stake in Multi Commodity Exchange via a block deal on Bombay Stock Exchange. With this bulk deal FTIL has no stake left in MCX. SBI Life Insurance picked up 3.43 lakh shares of MCX at Rs 830 per share. However FTIL has sold total 1.37 million MCX shares in the market today at the price of Rs 827.59 per share. It sold on NSE at Rs 834.76 per share.

Earlier it sold 6% in open market and entered share purchase agreement with Kotak bank to sell 15 per cent. Price of MCX shares today went up by Rs 41.4 or 5.08% on BSE to close at Rs.858.85 on reports of FTIL selling balance five per cent shares in MCX. At today's closing MCX's market cap is Rs 4,369.8 crore.

The Forward Markets Commission, the commodity market regulator has today approved purchase of 15% stake by Kotak Mahindra Bank. The bank had entered in to agreement with FTIL on 20 July to purchase 15% at Rs 600 per share with total consideration of Rs 459 crore.

FTIL in a press release has also said that, "Post the selling and subject to unblocking of balance shares by MCX to complete the condition precedent of share purchase agreement, the company holds nil shares in MCX. The stake sale is without prejudice to the legal rights and remedies"

MCX will have to write to depository NSDL to unlock 15 remaining shares which can be sold to Kotak bank.

Last month Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, leading investor and trader had picked up FTIL's 5% stake in MCX before Kotak Mahindra decided to pick up 15 per cent stake in the commodity exchange.

After the break out of the NSEL scam, FMC had declared FTIL not fit and proper to hold a stake in MCX due to which FTIL was forced to exit the commodity exchange. FTIL earlier owned 26% stake in MCX. (Business Standard)