The Hindu Business Line : 3 Indian cos eye Singapore bourse for listing

THE Singapore Stock Exchange officials who are visiting the country to woo corporates to list on their exchange, should be a satisfied team today given that three Indian companies are readying to list on the SGX.

The companies include Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), an Ahmedabad-based IT services company not listed in the Indian markets and a leading Mumbai-based textiles company already listed in the Indian exchanges.

Sources said that it would take some time for the listing to take place. For two of these companies, Deloitte, Haskins & Sells is the reporting accountant.

Of the three companies, BILT is planning to raise around Rs 120 crore from the Singapore market. Singapore officials laid out a time frame of around six months before the listing can take place, since the regulatory requirements and other due diligence processes are still on.

There is also talk that Dena Bank is exploring the possibility of listing on the SGX. However, when asked Mr Anil Khandelwal, Chairman, Dena Bank, said that nothing has been finalised. "As of now it is more of `academic interest'," he said making it clear that there was no concrete development. The bank is planning to raise around Rs 80 crore (face value) plus a premium, which is yet to be fixed.

Highlighting the advantages of listing on SGX vis-à-vis the US markets, Mr Philip Chan Kam Loon, Vice-President and head of listings, SGX, said listing fees are lower on the SGX. "The kind of stringent disclosures required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US is not applicable for those wishing to list on the SGX," he added.

The SGX has a market cap of around $4.2 billion. Of the total 500-odd companies listed on the exchange, around 23 per cent are foreign companies.

One of the main advantages in listing on the SGX is the cost factor. For instance, while the cost of listing on the Nasdaq is say around Rs 2.25 crore, on the SGX it would be around Rs 25 lakh.

However, listing on the SGX requires mandatory underwriting and the fees are fairly stiff, according to prospective issuers.

Mr Chan said that the listing fees, which currently ranges between $25,000 to $50,000 annually, will be hiked later on since it was not feasible for the exchange to have such low fees.