Soros may buy stake in BSE

However,Asia's oldest bourse,Bombay Stock Exchange,did not give any direct...

Asia’s oldest bourse,Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),today did not give any direct comment on a possible stake-buy by George Soros in the exchange.

“I do not like to comment on this. But I can say it is a transaction independent of us,” BSE’s Chief Executive,Madhu Kannan,told reporters here today.

“If it happens,it will be a sign of confidence in the Bombay Stock Exchange,” Kannan said.

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Kannan’s comment came after a media report that billionaire investor,George Soros is in talks to buy Dubai Holding’s four per cent stake for about USD 40 million in the Exchange.

Dubai Holding is owned by the Emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Last month,Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund,Temasek,took a five per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange of India for more than USD 145 million.

In 2009,Tom Caldwell,the Toronto financier and Argonaut,a private equity group,acquired minority stakes in the BSE.

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According to a report,Soros Fund Management is planning to pay about USD 40 million for its stake.

Soros’s entry into the BSE comes amid signs of a rift between the Exchange and one of its other shareholders,the Singapore Stock Exchange,which has recently given up its Board seat,the report said.

The deal is the latest in a series of strategic investments in the country’s stock and derivatives exchanges,which are diversifying into new asset classes and embracing new technologies to attract so-called high-frequency traders.