DHAKA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consortium led by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced here Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of 25 percent stake in Bangladesh's largest bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Senior officials of the Chinese consortium at a press briefing in Dhaka accompanied by the top DSE executives made the announcement Tuesday.
The Chinese consortium comprising the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) in May signed an agreement with DSE to acquire 25 percent stake in the country's premier bourse and became its strategic investor, after Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) approved DSE's proposal in this connection.
The BSEC approved the DSE's strategic partnership, fixing each of 450,944,125 shares at a price of 21 taka (0.25 U.S. dollars), the regulator said on its website earlier.
"The transaction amounted to approximately 9.47 billion taka (approximately 120 million U.S. dollars), and the Chinese consortium holds a total of approximately 450 million shares of the DSE, accounting for 25 percent of its total share capital," the Chinese consortium said in a statement.
DSE's hunt for a strategic partner came as it turned into a demutualized stock exchange on Nov. 21, 2013.
SZSE and SSE received DSE's tender invitation in July 2017.
A DSE official told Xinhua earlier that in consideration of all the aspects, the proposal of the Chinese consortium was the best offer in terms of value and technical support.
The bidding process also involved Indian, U.S. and Turkish exchanges.
According to a statement released earlier by the Shenzhen bourse, the Chinese consortium's bid to become strategic partner of DSE would support the development of China's Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation along the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
The consortium officials said the Chinese bourses would cooperate with DSE on trading technology, market and product development.
