LSE eyes India for new listings

The London Stock Exchange, which is seeing a flurry of takeover bids from leading bourses across the world, on Monday said India was a key market for its business development activities and it was looking to attract more listings from the country.

"India is a very important market for the London Stock Exchange and we are interested in attracting Indian companies seeking international capital," LSE spokesperson Richard Webster Smith told PTI from London.

LSE is targeting three key overseas markets -- India, China and Russia, for its business development activities, Smith added.

The exchange was uniquely placed to help ambitious companies from these fast growing countries gain access to global capital so that they can finance their growth and develop into global leaders, he said.

However, the spokesperson declined to comment on reports that LSE has recently held discussions with the Bombay Stock Exchange about a possible partnership, which could even lead to the two bourses taking shareholdings in each other.

UK-based The Business magazine quoted a source familiar with the discussions in a Sunday report as saying that a potential deal between the LSE and the Mumbai exchange could also include cross-listings of company shares and technology sharing.

Meanwhile, investment banking sources in Mumbai said that BSE representatives have been holding talks with a number of stock exchanges across the world for the past few months as part of its corporatisation plan, under which it might dilute some equity stake to a strategic partner.

However, a BSE spokesperson declined to comment on reports about partnership talks with LSE.  Smith said: "We have good relations with exchanges in the region. However, we are unable to comment any further at this stage on any possible discussions."

Investment bankers close to the development said that any partnership talks are in preliminary stages for now and BSE is talking to nearly all the leading exchanges, which include LSE as well as Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange of the US.

Interestingly, there are also speculations about Nasdaq, which has recently acquired a 25.3 per cent stake in LSE, planning a takeover bid for the UK exchange. The LSE has already seen takeover approaches from two European exchanges -- Deutsche Boerse and Euronext.

However, LSE officials have denied any merger talks with Nasdaq from their part. Earlier this month, Tokyo Stock Exchange had said that it was in talks for a possible business development partnership with the LSE.

Meanwhile, shares of LSE, which reported a sharp jump in its half-yearly profit last week, surged ahead sharply on the back of reports about a possible deal with Nasdaq or BSE.