After Bangladesh officials approved the purchase of 25 per cent stake of Dhaka Stock Exchange by China’s Shanghai, Shenzhen exchanges in February this year, the agreement was signed on Monday May 14 sealing the deal.

According to the deal the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange gained 1.8 billion shares of the Dhaka Stock Exchange's (DSE), the bourse's spokesman Shafiqur Rahman said. "The finance minister was the chief guest at the signing ceremony," he said.

The Chinese consortium offered 21 takas ($0.25) per share, around $122 million, during the tender process and pledged additional technical support worth nearly $37 million. A competing bid from the National Stock Exchange of India was made but with a lower offer of 15 takas per share.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange on February 10 approved the Chinese offer to buy a quarter of the bourse’s 1.8 billion shares, but Bangladesh’s financial regulator asked it to “further scrutinise” the decision, the AFP reported on Tuesday.

“The board has reconfirmed its decision about approving the Chinese consortium’s bid as it is higher than its nearest competitor’s,” said stock exchange spokesman Shafiqur Rahman after the meeting on Monday evening. The securities regulator eventually accepted the proposal. DSE Chairman Abul Hashem said the Chinese bid was selected after "rigorous scrutiny".

"Our focus was a long-term strategic relationship for a sustainable development of our capital market. After a rigorous scrutiny, we selected the Consortium of Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchange," he said.

This was Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges’ first successful overseas acquisition. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world’s fourth-largest market globally in terms of market capitalisation. The bourse has about 1,400 listed companies with a combined market value of US$5 trillion, which is the second largest in Asia after the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Shenzhen ranks at number 8 worldwide with 2,100 listed companies and a market capitalisation of US$3.69 trillion, according to the World Federation of Exchange.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange has a total market capitalisation of US$40 billion.

China is pushing for trade in its immediate neighbourhood with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2016 becoming the first Chinese head of state to visit Bangladesh in more than three decades, signing deals worth more than US$20 billion. But there have been setbacks, with Bangladesh last month blacklisting a top Chinese construction firm for allegedly trying to bribe a senior government official.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2018 02:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).