R K Damani, Shivanand Shankar acquire over 1% stake in MCX

While Damani purchased 1.34% stake in India's largest commodity futures trading platform, Shankar got 1.27% stake in the exchange

India’s two leading stock market investors, Radhakishan Damani and Shivanand Shankar, acquired more than one per cent stake each in the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), the exchange informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

While Damani purchased 1.34 per cent stake in India’s largest commodity futures trading platform, Shankar got 1.27 per cent stake in the exchange.

The investors’ pattern has gone a sea change in the MCX in the July–September quarter after the commodity derivatives market regulator allowed exit of the exchange’s erstwhile promoter Financial Technologies (FTIL). In the revised list of shareholders, Kotak Mahindra Bank has been incorporated as the largest shareholder after the private bank acquired 15 per cent stake from FTIL, which was subsequently approved by the markets regulator the Forward Markets Commission.

Interestingly, billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala also acquired 2.49 per cent additional stake in the exchange, which raised his stake to 3.94 per cent in the July–September quarter from 1.45 per cent earlier. Those who hold more than one per cent stake in the MCX include, private equity player Blackstone with 4.79 per cent, the public sector IFCI 4.79 per cent and AGINYX Enterprises 4.79 per cent.

By contrast, however, Valiant Mauritius exited the exchange in the September quarter. In the June quarter, it had two per cent stake in the exchange and Valiant Mauritius Partners Offshore had 1.91 per cent stake in June.

Bennett, Coleman and Company reduced its stake to 1.33 per cent from 2.24 per cent in the June quarter.

The promoter of the company changed in the September quarter, after the commodity market regulator, the FMC, ordered FTIL to exit the exchange in connection with Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis erupted at FTIL’s subsidiary National Spot Exchange Limited in July last year.