MUMBAI--NYSE Euronext (NYX) has called off its plan to sell its
entire 4.79% stake in Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd.
(534091.BY) because it didn't find any buyers, two people familiar
with the matter said Thursday.
NYSE Euronext wanted to sell the stake in India's largest
commodity exchange at the upper end of the 1,005.10-1,026.25 rupees
a share price band it had indicated in a term sheet, one of the
people said. It didn't get any buyers at that price, said the
person.
The operator of stock and derivatives markets in the U.S. and
Europe was looking to raise about $45 million by selling 2.44
million shares amid plans to exit some of its noncore assets.
NYSE Euronext acquired the stake in MCX as part of a broader
effort to build closer relations with India, seen as a source of
Big Board listings and trading clientele.
A spokesman for MCX declined to comment.
Investors were expecting a lower valuation because of worries
that trade volumes will decline once a commodity-transaction tax
the government proposed last week come into effect, the second
person said.
India will impose a 0.01% tax on the trading of non-agriculture
commodity derivatives, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said last
week in the federal budget for the next fiscal year starting April
1.
According to analysts, the tax could reduce trading volume on
commodity exchanges by 15%-20% as non-agricultural commodities
account for almost 80% of total trade.
At 0701 GMT, shares of Multi Commodity Exchange were trading
down 2.35% at 1,031.20 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The
benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index was flat.
Write to Kenan Machado at kenan.machado@dowjones.com and
Debiprasad Nayak at debi.nayak@dowjones.com
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