NSE keen to buy 25% stake in Dhaka stock exchange to rival China

India’s biggest stock exchange is keen to buy a 25 per cent stake in Dhaka Stock Exchange, rivaling an offer from a Chinese bourse.

“We are well positioned to help grow the Bangladesh market and the exchange, given our experience and track record,” Vikram Limaye, chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange has offered 22 taka per share to buy 25 percent of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, Rakibur Rahman, a director at the DSE, said by phone last week. That’s higher than the NSE’s 15 taka per share bid. The bourse will hold a meeting on Feb. 19 to finalize its pick before sending the proposal to the nation’s securities regulator.

“The process is still on and we’re hopeful,” Limaye said. “India and Bangladesh have a strong relationship. We hope that it will help us contribute to the development of markets.”

India is trying to match the Chinese exchanges expanding clout over south Asian bourses. The China Financial Futures Exchange Co., Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and two local financial institutions bought a 40 percent stake in the Pakistan Stock Exchange in December 2016. The NSE accounts for more than 80 percent of all stock market trading in India.

“We will approve the highest and best offer taking into account Bangladesh’s interests,” Saifur Rahman, executive director and spokesman for Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, said by phone on Wednesday.