INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 16^th - FEBRUARY 29^th - 2008

NYSE PICKS UP 5% STAKE IN MULTI COMMODITY EXCHANGE (MCX) FOR ABOUT $55 M

New York-based NYSE Euronext, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, has announced that it has inked a deal to buy a 5% stake in the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), India’s number one commodity exchange. At MCX’s enterprise value of $1.1 billion, the deal works out to about $55 million.

The transaction is expected to be completed over the next 2-3 months, subject to relevant regulatory approvals. Financial Technologies, which is the main promoter of MCX, will see its stake drop to 32%, once the deal is final.

Also, the combined foreign holding in MCX will rise to 22%. Earlier in July 2006, MCX and Liffe, NYSE Euronext’s derivatives business, had entered a licensing agreement for MCX to use Liffe futures prices. This enabled MCX to list domestic minifutures contracts for robusta and white sugar based on Liffe futures prices and to identify other areas of collaboration.