Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has finally approved the Chinese consortium’s offer to buy 25 per cent stakes of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), rebuffing a rival bid from another Indian consortium.
The SEC gave the approval in this regard on Thursday, fixing each of 450,944,125 shares at Tk 21.
A deal between the DSE and the Chinese consortium will be signed by May 14, officials said.
They said agreement will be signed in line with Bangladesh’s laws.
The DSE submitted a revised proposal to the SEC earlier in the day following the regulator’s instruction.
The Chinese consortium offered Tk 22 per share for 25 per cent of the DSE’s total shares and asked for a seat on the board.
It also offered technical assistance worth nearly 37 million U.S. dollars and added that it would not seek any return on its investment for a period of 10 years.
“It’s a historic day for Bangladesh’s stock market,” former DSE President Shakil Rizvi said in his instant reactions.
“The DSE is going to become a multinational company through this, which will also boost other business. It will have a positive impact on the overall economy.”
Another consortium of India’s National Stock Exchange, Frontier Bangladesh and
Nasdaq of the US took part in the bidding to become the DSE’s partners.
A DSE official earlier said the other consortium offered Tk 15 per share to buy 25 per cent of the DSE’ total shares.
The Indian consortium reportedly wanted two posts on the exchange’s board although the denationalization law created only one post for a strategic partner. Apart from this, the Indian consortium offered technical support, but it did not clarify how much money it would spend.
The DSE accepted the Chinese consortium’s offer as it found their offer ‘more attractive’, according to a DSE director.
It follows a successful 2016 bid from a Chinese consortium that included the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges that purchased 40 percent of the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The Chinese offer is part of the broader contest between Beijing and New Delhi in the region’s smaller countries, from Nepal to Myanmar.
China had already invested heavily in the region’s infrastructure.
