FTIL defers stake sale as bidders want full PwC report
PrintListen to this Article
Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) has decided to postpone its decision for divesting 24 per cent stake in the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) to May 10, as bidders did not submit binding bids.
FTIL said in a statement issued after the board meeting here on Friday that with MCX releasing executive summary of the special audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), some bidders requested for the full report and further information about MCX. FTIL’s merchant bankers have sent the request to MCX.
The statement noted that the May 10 meeting would review the progress on the divestment of stake.
PwC carried out an audit report on MCX on instructions given by the commodity market regulator.
Several well known local and global investors have submitted non-binding offers to the FTIL to buy MCX stake. Reliance Capital has emerged the highest bidder with an offer of Rs 750 a share.
After MCX put the summary of the PwC report in the public domain, it was perceived the bids would be delayed. MCX's shares went up 1.9 per cent on Friday to close at Rs 543.70 apiece on the BSE after falling nearly eight per cent on Thursday. FTIL's stock fell 4.77 per cent to close at Rs 300.70 on Friday.
FTIL, which has been the promoter and the anchor investor of MCX, has to cut its stake in MCX from 26 per cent to two per cent after the Forward Markets Commission declared it not fit-and-proper to run the exchange.
In the aftermath of the Rs 5,574-crore payment crisis at the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), a subsidiary of FTIL, the commodity market regulator had commissioned PwC to carry out a special audit of MCX since its inception. The audit firm had submitted an interim report a couple of months ago. On April 21, it submitted its final report, a summary of which was made public early this week.
The report had said there were many lacunae in the surveillance mechanism and technology platform. FTIL had termed the report one-sided, saying it would take legal action against the firm on this. The issue is understood to have been discussed in Friday's FTIL board meeting. However, the company statement is silent on the issue.
It even said related-party transactions between MCX and its anchor investor FTIL were not at arm's length. Also the technology contract with FTIL was favouring the later despite MCX was bound for 33 years for getting the technology services from FTIL. (Business Standard)
Category : Shares & Stock | Comments : 0 | Hits : 440
NSE will introduce four indices from April 8 in both the cash and derivatives segments. These include Nifty Tata Group 25 per cent Cap, Nifty 500 Multicap India Manufacturing 50:30:20, Nifty 500 Multicap Infrastructure 50:30:20, and Nifty MidSmall Healthcare. Nifty Tata Group 25 per cent Cap Index consists of 10 companies and is based on free float market capitalisation method. The indices have a base date of April 01, 2005 and a base value of 1000. The Nifty500 Multicap India Manufactu...
Investment firm BlackRock Inc's equity holding has surpassed the five per cent level in renewable energy solution provider Suzlon Energy with the acquisition of about 24.73 lakh shares. "The aggregate holdings of BlackRock, Inc. (on behalf of discretionary management clients) in Suzlon Energy Limited has moved above 5 per cent," a regulatory filing has said. The filing showed that BlackRock has acquired 24,73,442 shares (0.02 per cent of total share capital) in Su...
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is looking to increase trading hours in the equity derivatives segment in a phased manner, a move that will potentially curtail the overnight risk arising from global information flow, a senior official said on Monday. The bourse is planning a session from 6 pm to 9 pm after a break from the closure of the regular session from 9.15 am to 3.30 pm, Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer of NSE, told PTI. Further, transactions in the evening sess...
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 25 arrested Anand Subramanian, a former top official of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), in connection with alleged favour dolled out to certain traders. The development comes as authorities pressed ahead with an investigation into whether high-frequency traders were given unfair access to network servers at the exchange. News reports suggest that Subramanian, the former group operating officer and advisor to former managing direc...
Top stock exchanges on Monday said they will introduce the T+1 settlement cycle for trading equity shares and other instruments in a phased manner, starting 25 February. A joint statement issued by the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd confirmed a 3 November Mint report that said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has agreed to recalibrate its trade settlement circular and may implement T+1 in a phased manner. The change will make India one of the first co...
Comments