BSE stock exchange files for initial public offering

MUMBAI (Reuters) - BSE Ltd, India's second-biggest stock exchange, filed a draft prospectus on Friday for its initial public offering and said it would list its shares on larger rival the National Stock Exchange.

The exchange said in its draft prospectus that its investors are selling 29.96 million shares in the IPO, a roughly 27.9 percent stake.

Banking sources had previously said the IPO aimed to raise as much as $150 million.

Of the 107.35 million shares in BSE, trading members hold about 52.3 million shares, or 48.7 percent. The rest is held by Deutsche Boerse AG, Singapore Exchange and a group of foreign portfolio investors, insurance companies and individuals.

Singapore Exchange has indicated it plans to liquidate its entire stake in the BSE as part of the process.

Founded in 1875, BSE, whose first venue for broker meetings was under a banyan tree in the financial capital Mumbai, has long been considering an IPO. However, lack of clarity on rules for the listing of stock exchanges had delayed the process.

Strong stock markets in India have sparked a boom in IPOs.

BSE, formerly known as Bombay Stock Exchange, reported total income of 1.65 billion rupees ($24.7 million) and net profit of 527 million rupees in the quarter ended June 30.

Axis, Edelweiss, Jefferies and Nomura are the joint global coordinators, while Motilal Oswal, SBI Capital Markets, SMC Capitals and Spark Capital are among the other bookrunners for the IPO.

($1 = 66.7400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)