BSE issue likely to be Rs 400-1,000 crore

The public offer of the country's premier bourse, the BSE, could range between Rs 400 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, BSE Managing Director & CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said. He said a clear picture on the issue would emerge only after BSE received the Securities and Exchange Board of India approval and discussions were held with merchant bankers. BSE, Asia's oldest bourse, hoped to hit the market five-six months following approval by the regulator. Listing was decided at the time the exchange was demu tualised. It has 7,000 shareholders broadly constituting 40 per cent from the broking community, 30 per cent from foreign institutions, including foreign bourses, and the remaining 30 per cent from domestic non-broking institutions. BSE was planning to use the offer for sale route. It had applied with the regulator in January. According to reports, BSE has sought exemptions from certain clauses from Sebi which were coming in the way of early approval from regulators.