Decks have been cleared for South-based sugar processor Shree Renuka Sugars to buy 5 per cent stake in NCDEX from Goldman Sachs and ICE with existing shareholders showing no interest in buying the shares on sale.
The present shareholders of NCDEX – Life Insurance Corporation, National Stock Exchange, NABARD, Crisil, IFFCO, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank – were given the ‘right of first refusal’ but they did not show any interest in purchasing the 5 per cent stake.
"We had given 23 days time to our existing shareholders to buy part of Goldman Sachs and InterContinental Exchange’s (ICE’s) stake. However, none of them have shown any interest," NCDEX Corporate Service Head Ananda Kumar told PTI.
The Right-of-first refusal is a contractual right that gives the shareholder the option to purchase the shares before the offering is made to others.
Kumar said a decision had been taken in favour of Shree Renuka Sugars. "We have conveyed the message to the commodity markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC)."
The regulator, when contacted, confirmed the development and said, "the process will take some time".
Shree Renuka Sugars has shown interest in buying the stake from ICE and Goldman Sachs, which hold 8 per cent and 7 per cent stake, respectively in NCDEX. As per the FDI norms, being foreign entities, they have to bring down their stake to 5 per cent each by September.
Source: Business-Standard