Overseas and domestic suitors may be falling over each other for a strategic stake in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), but India's largest bourse might end up more than doubling the size of its planned public issue if it fails to find a suitable partner by this year end.For offloading 26% stake, the prestigious bourse has shortlisted some potential strategic partners including 5-6 overseas stock exchanges as well as some other domestic and global investors, merchant banking sources close to the development said.However, the BSE might simply club the 26% it intends to sell to a partner with the proposed public issue of 25% of its shares in the unlikely event of not finding a suitor who is good enough by the end of this year, they added.In line with BSE's intention is to pick a partner having global aspirations, the shortlisted potential partners include the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market from the US, Singapore Stock Exchange from Asia and London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse and Luxembourg Stock Exchange from Europe, the sources said.Meanwhile, a BSE spokesperson declined to comment on the recent media reports that NYSE was in advanced talks with it to acquire a 26% stake in the exchange.As per the BSE Corporatisation and Demutalisation Scheme 2005, notified by the market regulator Sebi, the exchange has to bring down brokers' stake to 49% in the next one year from the present 100%. The merchant banking sources said BSE could finalise its strategic partner before December, while it aims to launch its IPO by May '07.
