Zee among five more Indian cos to list on NYSE this year

Zee among five more Indian cos to list on NYSE this year
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, APRIL 12: Five Indian companies will list their shares on the New York Stock Exchange of the US this year. Zee Telefilms, which has planned a $ 1.5 billion ADR issue soon, will list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol `ZEE'.

According to NYSE chairman Richard Grasso, four other Indian companies -- Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), HCL Technologies and Silverline Industries Ltd -- will list on the NYSE by the end of this year. ICICI Bank was listed on NYSE last last month while its parent ICICI was listed last year.

"Zee will kick off its roadshows for listing soon and will be part of NYSE through registration and listing in the next few months," Grasso said.NYSE group executive vice-president (international & research) Georges Ugeux said the exchange expects 20 Indian companies to list by the end of2001.

"This is the time for bringing Indian companies to the NYSE. The exchange has the privilege of trading 3,100 companies from around the world, with a market capitalisation of $17 trillion. Out of this, $5 trillion came from the market cap of non-US companies," Grasso said.

He pointed out that 2,800 companies around the world qualified to trade on the NYSE. "If this happens, they would add a market cap of $7 trillion to the exchange's volumes," the NYSE chief said.

Grasso said that NYSE was making efforts to allow eligible domestic companies raise funds from the US capital markets. "Our endeavour is to make certain the two capital markets evolve and grow. India is pioneering the opportunities, that may begin a partnership which will be long and mutually beneficial," he said.

The NYSE, according to him, was in discussions with three kinds of companies in India. They were state-run companies in which the government wanted to offload their stake, family run business and start-ups holding a potential for growth. "We are in talks with practically all the companies qualified for listing," he said.

On rival Nasdaq, Grasso said: "The technology, telecom and media stocks listed on the NYSE are of the size of the entire Nasdaq". "Contrary to general perception, most of the companies listed are young. About 2,000 of the 3,000 firms listed on NYSE have joined during the last decade," the NYSE chief observed.

According to him, Nasdaq was focussed on dotcom and other start-ups which were in the business planning stage. "While we are building a franchise by providing a platform to companies desirous of raising capital from the US capital market," Grasso said.