MSE raises over Rs.200 crore; ties up further funding of Rs. 95 crore

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai : MSE (Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India), today announced that it has raised Rs. 209 crore in just over a year and has tied up further funding of Rs.95 crore with few large investors and merchant bankers. With this, the liquid net worth of its clearing corporation subsidiary MCCIL (Metropolitan Clearing Corporation of India Limited) will be Rs. 300 crore, meeting SECC requirements. Excess funds will strengthen MSE’s own net-worth besides being invested in its business.  This marks an inflection point in the turnaround strategy put in place by the current management. Last July onwards it raised Rs. 97 crore from existing investors (IL&FS, Trust Capital, Rosy Blue Securities, Radhakrishan Damani and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala) and in the recent rights issue, Rs. 112 crore of Rs. 207 crore was subscribed by September end. Also, Siddhartha Balachandran, an NRI investor having a significant holding in BSE has picked up 5% stake in MSE recently.

According to Udai Kumar, Managing Director & CEO, MSE,” New product approvals were not forthcoming from the regulator due to the net-worth challenge, thus hurting the revival plan of the exchange. The exchange also needed to raise sufficient capital to invest in its business, which is addressed with this raise.”

Added Abhijit Chakraborty, Chief Operating Officer, MSE,” We have been aggressive in putting together a sound business revival plan and in reaching out to existing and potential investors, results of which are now evident.  Multiple elements of the turnaround strategy are now in place for us to accelerate.”

MSE, the youngest and the third national level stock exchange, is focused on enhancing fixed income and currency segments besides showcasing the usefulness of executing large equity trades on its platform. It recently launched a Member Activation Drive that provides infrastructural support to its members, various incentive schemes and lowest transaction charges on almost all product contracts. MSE also launched MY MSE - a business loyalty program, under which the members complying with business and risk mitigating parameters are eligible for incentives like reimbursement of Clearing Fee paid by its trading members to their Clearing Members. Its clearing arm MCCIL got recently certified by European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) as third country central counterparty (CCP).

About MSE: Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited (MSE) is a SEBI-recognized stock exchange with licences to operate in currency, interest rate & equity derivatives, equity cash, ETFs and debt. Its shareholders include India’s top public and private sector banks and domestic financial institutions who together hold over 34%, besides eminent shareholders like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Radhakishan Damani and Nemish S. Shah. MSE boasts of a Board of Directors with eminent personalities and a professional management to steering the company to its growth potential. In line with global best practices and regulatory requirements, clearing & settlement of trade on the exchange are through its subsidiary Metropolitan Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (MCCIL), an accredited Qualified Central Counterparty.