To: Mohan Marette who wrote (8133 ) 10/12/1999 1:30:00 AM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (1) | Respond to
More Indian companies queue up at the Nasdaq door step One more Nasdaq listing out of India is expected this year. Next year six more may follow - in telecom, pharma and software sectors, and ten in 2001. "People are just beginning to wake up to India Inc," Nasdaq stock market director Asia/Pacific Pzatrick Sutch said. 'For example, many US investors do not realise how good the Indian pharma industry is." Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's and Orchid Chemicals . Apart from pharma, telecom and software, he picks auto component companies as potential candidates for listing. Sutch feels that Indian analysts do not assign right valuations to companies in the newer sectors software and the Internet, and that the value of such companies gets adequately reflected in US markets. He has of late been trying to wean away the top 20 Indian GDR companies to ADRs, and to get them listed on Nasdaq (the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, vies with Nasdaq for new listings). And his sales pitch for Nasdaq: though smaller than NYSE (market cap $ 3 trillion against NYSE's $ 10.7 trillion), Nasdaq's market-making capacity results in greater liquidity. He says there are essentially three reasons why an Indian company would want to list in the US. First, a listing enhances its image in the US, where many customers reside. Second, it makes acquisitions easier as shares can be used to buy companies. And third, it allows employee stock options to be offered in dollars.
