Chinese team seals 25% of Dhaka bourse

THE Chinese consortium led by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said yesterday that it has completed its acquisition of a 25 percent stake in Bangladesh’s largest bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Senior officials of the Chinese consortium accompanied by the top DSE executives made the announcement at a press briefing in Dhaka yesterday.

The consortium comprising the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May signed an agreement with DSE to acquire 25 percent of Bangladesh’s premier bourse and became its strategic investor, after Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission approved DSE’s proposal in this connection.

The BSEC approved the DSE’s strategic partnership, fixing each of 450,944,125 shares at a price of 21 taka (25 US cents), the regulator said on its website earlier.

“The transaction amounted to approximately 9.47 billion taka (US$120 million), and the Chinese consortium holds a total of approximately 450 million shares of the DSE, accounting for 25 percent of its total share capital,” the consortium said in a statement.

DSE’s hunt for a strategic partner came as it turned into a demutualized stock exchange on November 21, 2013.

The Shenzhen and Shanghai bourses received DSE’s tender invitation in July 2017.

A DSE official earlier said that in consideration of all the aspects, the proposal of the Chinese consortium was the best offer in terms of value and technical support.

The bidding process also involved Indian, US and Turkish exchanges.