Both the country?s dominant bourses on Tuesday went live with their versions of a separate platform for small and medium enterprises (SME), initiatives that have been in the making for a couple of years.
While BSE launched its SME platform with just one company on board, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) resorted to a soft launch by unveiling the brand name?Emerge ?and a website for its proposed segment for smaller companies.
BCB Finance? a non-banking finance company (NBFC) ? became the first company to list on the BSE SME segment. The company listed after making a public offer to raise R8.85 crore by offering 35.40 lakh shares at R 25 each. It closed at R25.70 with 2.76 lakh shares changing hands.
One of the promoter entities of BCB Finance is Uttam Bagri who is also on the board of directors of BSE. Bagri is also the secretary of the BSE Broker?s Forum management committee. ?We are hopeful to get at least a dozen companies on board by the end of this calendar year,? said Madhu Kannan, managing director & chief executive officer, BSE. The exchange is also trying to get SIDBI on board to act as a merchant banker apart from buying stake in some of the issuer companies.
NSE, meanwhile, is expecting a ?handful? of companies to list on its platform in the current calendar year as it rolls out ?hand holding? exercises aimed at potential issuers, market players, investors and even officials of SMEs. It is expecting its first listing in the next couple of days.
NSE will offer companies an option between continuous trading and call auction mechanism post-listing to encourage liquidity.
The exchange will also make available a four-page independent research report on the company the day it is listed on its platform.