FTIL inks pact with investors to sell full 5 per cent stake in MCX-SX stock exchange

Financial Technologies (FTIL) on Tuesday inked a pact with ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, financial major Edelweiss and others to sell its entire five per cent stake in MCX-SX stock exchange for Rs 88.41 crore.

FTIL has been in trouble ever since the Rs 5,600 crore payment scam surfaced at group firm National Spot Exchange (NSEL) in July, 2013.

The group has started exiting from the exchange business both in the domestic market and abroad after an order by commodity markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) in December 2013 declared FTIL and its founder Jignesh Shah as unfit to run any exchanges in view of the scam.

In a statement, the company said, "FTIL today entered into a 'Share and Warrant Purchase Agreement' with Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and separate 'Warrant Purchase Agreements' with Edelweiss Financial Services" an other investors for sale of its 100 per cent stake in MCX-SX comprising of 2,70,00,000 equity shares and 56,24,60,000 warrants for an aggregate consideration of Rs 88.419 crore."

FTIL has signed separate pacts for sale of equity as well as warrants with investors including Trust Investment Advisors, Viral A Parikh, Nemish S Shah HUF, Derive Investments, Kalpraj Dharamshi, Dhanesh Sumatilal Shah, Uday Shah, Madhuri Kela, Renuka Shah, SKS Capital & Research and Madhu Vadera Jayakumar, the statement added.

The transaction would be subject to fulfillment of certain condition precedents including regulatory approvals, the company added.

MCX-SX offers a platform for trading in Capital Market, Futures & Options (F&O), Currency Derivatives and Debt Market segments. MCX-SX commenced operations in the Currency Derivatives (CD) Segment on October 7, 2008, under the regulatory framework of SEBI and RBI.

MCX-SX launched Capital Market Segment, F&0 segment and flagship index SX40 on February 9, 2013 and commenced trading from February 11, 2013.

FTIL has already exited MCX, IEX and overseas bourses Singapore Merchantile Exchange (SMX) and Bourse Africa Ltd. It is in the process of selling stake in Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

FTIL is focussing on its core technology business after exiting from the exchange business.