Tokyo bourse buys stake in Singapore exchange
Afp, Tokyo
The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Friday that it had acquired a stake of almost five percent in the Singapore stock exchange operator as part of its efforts to forge links with overseas bourses. The Singapore group welcomed the move and said it was ready to explore prospects for further collaboration with Asia's largest bourse. The TSE said it had purchased 53.051 million shares in Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX), or about 4.99 percent of its issued share capital. The purchase has a value of about 528 million Singapore dollars (342 million US dollars) based on SGX's closing share price of 9.95 Singapore dollars, up 1.5 percent on the day. TSE president Taizo Nishimuro said his exchange was considering "many possibilities" with the Singapore bourse. "The Singapore exchange holds a unique position in Asia. We believe Singapore can be the cornerstone of our Asian strategy," he told reporters. As global bourses are increasingly linking arms it was important for the TSE to move quickly, particularly with the SGX share price already rising rapidly, making any investment more expensive, he said. "This is the trend among various Asian stock exchanges," Nishimuro said, noting that the TSE is now the largest private-sector shareholder in SGX. The Tokyo bourse said it hoped to raise its stake in SGX to 5.0 percent if it receives the official stamp of approval from the Singapore authorities, but has no plans for now to hike it beyond that.
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