Oman Investment Fund to buy 5 percent of India's NCDEX stake

State-owned Oman Investment Fund (OIF) and a hedge fund have agreed to buy 5 per cent of India-based National Stock Exchange's (NSE) stake in the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX).

The deal valued the bourse at $154.66 million (Rs.7 billion), said The Economic Times report which did not name the hedge fund.

If the deal goes through, it will mark the entry of a sovereign fund into India's seven-year-old commodity futures market that posted turnover in excess of 1 trillion rupees in the financial year ended March, the news paper said.

'OIF has agreed to pick up 5 per cent in the commodity exchange from NSE and a hedge fund will buy 1.1 per cent at a little under 145 rupees a share, the price (Shree) Renuka Sugars paid to buy 7 per cent in NCDEX from Crisil last year,' a person familiar with the development was quoted as saying in the report.

JM Financial is the advisor to NSE on the deal, it added.