Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has approved a joint offer by China’s Shenzhen and Shanghai bourses to buy 25 per cent of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The SEC gave the approval on the DSE’s strategic partnership on Thursday, fixing each of 450,944,125 shares at Tk 21, the regulator said on its website.
The agreement must be signed in line with Bangladesh’s laws and implemented in one year from the signing of the deal.
The DSE submitted a revised strategic partnership proposal to the SEC earlier in the day following the regulator’s instruction.
“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 25.1 per cent of the DSE.
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 hard infrastructure.
But as it seeks closer economic ties as part of its Belt and Road Initiative—a vast network of ports, railways, roads and infrastructure—its state-owned bourses have also been investing in foreign exchanges, reports bdnews24.com.
