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George Soros, the billionaire investor, is in final talks to buy Dubai Holding’s 4 per cent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange, as foreign investor interest in India’s fast-growing financial markets rises, people close to the matter said.
Soros Fund Management is planning to pay about $40m for its stake, valuing Asia’s oldest bourse at about $1bn, said a person involved in the negotiations.
The deal is the latest in a series of strategic investments in India’s stock and derivatives exchanges, which are diversifying into new asset classes and embracing new technologies to attract so-called “high-frequency” traders.
Individual foreign entities are allowed to own up to 5 per cent in a local bourse, according to domestic rules.
Last month, Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, took a 5 per cent stake in the rival National Stock Exchange of India for more than Rs6.75bn ($145m).
Earlier this year, Tom Caldwell, the Toronto financier, and Argonaut, a private equity group, acquired minority stakes in the BSE. Deutsche Börse has had a stake in the BSE since 2007.
Investors have been encouraged by the overhaul of the BSE by chief executive Madhu Kannan, who earlier worked closely with John Thain, former chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange.
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