Nairobi - The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has raised 627 million Kenyan shillings (R76 million) for expansion in an oversubscribed initial public offering as part of plans to demutualise the bourse.
Demutualisation is seen as a way of curbing the influence stockbrokers have over the exchange's management, which has been criticised for reacting slowly to breaches in regulations.
The funds raised will be used to develop new products such as derivatives, exchange-traded funds and Sharia-compliant indexes, NSE chief executive Peter Mwangi said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The completion of the IPO makes the NSE the second African exchange after the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to be demutualised and transition from a private, mutual company to a public, listed company.
The NSE had said it was seeking to raise 627 million shillings by selling up to 66 million new shares at a price of 9.50 shillings per share. Investors applied for 504,189,700 new shares worth 4.8 billion shillings garnering a subscription of 764 percent, and an over subscription of 664 percent.
The new shareholders will be able to trade their NSE shares next Tuesday, the NSE said.
Following the listing - planned since 2005 - the NSE shares will trade like any other company on the bourse. - Reuters