Osaka: Osaka Securities Exchange Co, the operator of Japan's biggest market for startups, said the number of initial public offerings it hosts may double this year and that it's pursuing partnership talks with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
The Osaka bourse also may extend trading hours for derivatives to 2am or 3am local time from 11.30pm, Michio Yoneda, president of the bourse, said.
"The OSE is aware of foreign competition," said Mariko Watanabe, a Tokyo-based analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG. "That's why they've lengthened their trading hours and are differentiating themselves by specialising in derivatives." A partnership with Nasdaq would be aimed at providing services for companies on Japan's Jasdaq Securities Exchange Inc, she said.
The Osaka bourse, which completed the purchase of Jasdaq last year, agreed in 2009 to form a partnership with New York- based Nasdaq, the world's largest exchange company, according to its website, and the owner of the US's second-biggest equity exchange. A previous tie-up was dissolved in 2002.
"I think a doubling of IPOs from ten last year is possible," said the Osaka exchange's Yoneda. Rising share prices as the economy improves would encourage venture companies to seek listings on the Jasdaq market, he said. Japan had 22 IPOs in 2010.
Double-dip
Japan's gross domestic product is expected to contract at a 1.9 percent annualised pace in the three months through December, according to a survey of 42 economists released last month by the Economic Planning Association. The country's growth rate is likely to then accelerate for the next five quarters, enabling the economy to avoid a double-dip recession, the forecasts show.
Exchanges are combining or forming alliances to thwart competition from bourses and proprietary systems promising greater privacy, faster trading speeds or lower costs. Singapore Exchange Ltd offered to buy ASX Ltd, Australia's main stock exchange to compete with Hong Kong and Tokyo.
