BSE in preliminary talks for acquiring United Stock Exchange

New Delhi: The Bombay Stock Exchange is in preliminary talks for possible acquisition of United Stock Exchange, which is grappling with business challenges.

The loss-making United Stock Exchange (USE) is trading  only in currency futures.  "The discussions for a possible acquisition of USE are at a preliminary stage,"stated a senior official.

BSE is already a strategic partner in the exchange and the single largest shareholder with nearly 15 per cent at  the end of December.  Reflecting its business challenges, USE saw its net loss  widen to Rs 57.13 lakh in December as well. BSE had clocked a net loss of Rs 5.28 lakh in the  September2013.  Going by reports, USE's net worth is around Rs 115 crore, which is slightly higher than the minimum level of Rs 100  crore mandated under rules of market regulator Sebi. 

Apart from BSE, private sector lender Federal Bank is another major shareholder with about six per cent stake in USE  at the end of December quarter.  During the same period, many leading entities including  Standard Chartered Bank (Mauritius) Ltd, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, MMTC and Jaypee Capital Services held their stakes in BSE.