Date:10/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/10/stories/2004121002380200.htm

Back Nasdaq bullish on Indian cos

Our Bureau

Mr Stuart C. Patterson (centre), Sr. Managing Director, International Corporate Client Group, Nasdaq, addressing a press conference along with Mr Peter Yandle, Senior Managing Director, International Marketing, and Mr Ghanashyam Dass, Managing Director, Nasdaq Asia, in Hyderabad on Thursday. - A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , Dec. 9

FOLLOWING the signs of improving markets across the globe, the Nasdaq Stock Market, which has captured over 83 per cent of the US IPOs market, is now bullish on attracting good number of Indian companies to raise funds in the US market and get listed on the bourse.

Addressing newspersons here on Thursday, the Nasdaq Senior Managing Director, International Corporate Client Group, Mr Stuart C. Patterson, said the exchange found potential of over 100 Indian companies for US listings in view of their US-GAAP reporting practices.

"We hope 5-10 listings from Indian companies in the next 12 to 18 months. These companies could be from pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and information technology," Mr Patterson said.

The Nasdaq Senior Managing Director, International Marketing, Mr Peter Yandle, said Nasdaq was expecting around 170 listings from the companies in the Asia Pacific region in the next 12 to 18 months. These companies, from diverse industrial segments, are mostly from China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia, he said.

At present, Nasdaq has a total of 3,296 companies listed on it, of which 65 companies belonged to the Asia Pacific Region.

According to Mr Patterson, Nasdaq has become the preferred stock exchange for international companies on account of its superior market structure that provides greater support and more efficient trading platform.

Nasdaq stocks trade more volume leading to greater liquidity while faster executions decreases likelihood of market moving to inferior price.

Further, he claimed that IPOs listed on Nasdaq performed better than those listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

He said the Nasdaq-listed companies attract more analyst coverage as well as more institutional investment.

In addition, the exchange offers to its listed companies a range of value added services to increase their visibility amongst the investment community.

Nasdaq has lower initial listing fees as well as lower annual fees compared to NYSE, he said.

On the companies from Hyderabad, he said, "Hyderabad is home to many outstanding companies and we expect that several of these companies would list on Nasdaq in the coming years."