CSE’s shareholders endorse ABG as strategic partner

The shareholders of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) endorsed the sale of its 25 per cent stake to Bashundhara Group’s ABG Limited letting the firm finally become the bourse’s strategic partner. 

The general shareholders of the port city bourse approved the issue during an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held Thursday.

Getting approval from the general shareholders was a must for selling its stake to the strategic partners. Asif Ibrahim, chairman of the CSE, conducted the extraordinary general meeting.

Earlier on Sunday, Bashundhara Group’s ABG Limited became the strategic partner of the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

To this end, an agreement was signed between the two parties during a ceremony held at the Radisson Blu Chattogram Bay View hotel.

ABG Limited’s Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and CSE’s Acting Managing Director Md Ghulam Faruque signed the contract on behalf of their respective organisations.

From now on, ABG Limited would be acting for the technical and other developments of the bourse, putting a significant impact on the progress of the country’s capital market.

On October 13 this year, the stock market regulator imposed some conditions on ABG Limited to be a strategic investor of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).

Before that, the securities regulator on September 28 this year conditionally approved the CSE’s proposal to sell its 25 per cent stake to ABG Limited in line with the demutualisation process.

ABG got registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) on February 27.

ABG Limited spent Tk 240 crore to acquire the 25 per cent stake at the CSE.

Earlier, ABG submitted a proposal to the CSE to become its strategic partner. The CSE referred the proposal to the BSEC on August 1. On August 29, the strategic partner aspirant made a presentation before the regulator about its plan.

After the 2010 stock market crash, stakeholders demanded the government ensure monitoring to stop manipulation and bring transparency to the market to restore investors’ confidence. Following the demand, the demutualization act was passed in parliament in 2013. The CSE was demutualised in 2013 to separate its ownership from management.

According to the Demutualization Act 2013, 40 per cent of the CSE’s shares were credited to its members’ accounts while the remaining 60 per cent were kept in a blocked account. Of the 60 per cent, 35 per cent would be offered in an initial public offering by the exchange, while the remaining 25 per cent would be held by the strategic investor.