Shanghai, Shenzhen bourses acquire 25pc stake in Dhaka Stock Exchange
Bangladesh officials approve strategic asset purchase by Shanghai, Shenzhen exchanges
The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have successfully completed their first overseas acquisition, after securing a 25 per cent stake of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, according to a Bangladesh official on Tuesday.
Bangladesh approved the joint bid from the Chinese consortium after it rejected a rival bid from India’s National Stock Exchange that raised political sensitivities, accord to an AFP report.
China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges made a joint bid worth US$122 million, in addition to technical support worth a further US$37 million.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world’s fourth-largest market globally in terms of market capitalisation. The bourse has about 1,400 listed companies with a combined market value of US$5 trillion, which is the second largest in Asia after the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Shenzhen ranks No 8 worldwide with 2,100 listed companies and a market capitalisation of US$3.69 trillion, according to the World Federation of Exchange.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange has a total market capitalisation of US$40 billion.
Hong Kong stockbrokers said the deal made strategic sense for the two mainland Chinese bourses.
“As the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have grown into the world’s largest exchanges worldwide in recent years, it made sense for them to expand into overseas exchanges by way of acquisition,” said Gary Cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Association.