Well, it was almost like Columbus rediscovered America. Only on the eve of the 21st century was there a difference. Instead of a ragged, fatigue-stricken Columbus shouting a possible cheer as he touched American soil, it was the tie-clad, scented, dress-booted Indian industrialist who demurely entered the first direct listing on the US securities market.
For those gathered at the Bangalore campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd, India’s software bigshot, the electrifying atmosphere left no doubt that history was being made. For the first time ever, an Indian company has been listed directly on a US stock exchange. India’s leading information technology company traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol INFY. Until now, no Indian company had exceeded the strict conditions that barred trading on a US exchange. Infosys Chairman NR Narayana Murthy’s face floated on a video screen via an internet link. He was in New York for the momentous occasion and compared the event to Armstrong’s walking on the moon. Murthy twisted Armstrong’s famous line a bit, saying it was “one small step for Nasdaq, one giant leap for Indian industry.”
When Infosys’ listing was officially announced by a Nasdaq official, the company’s approximately 3,000 employees who waited with bated breath on campus erupted in spontaneous applause. Nasdaq President John T. Wall’s comment that the “atmosphere was really electric” was an understatement. Some went wild, firecrackers ripped through the air and colorful rocket bombs spewed showers of exquisite flame at an almost insane crowd.
history was made. Nasscom CEO Dewang Mehta, who was in New York, blurted out and said, “You guys did it.” For the humble Infosys chairman, it was a dream come true, almost a fairy tale, in which the protagonist crosses the seven seas and almost insurmountable mountains to reach the other end of the rainbow.
Started in 1981 when seven Indians sat huddled in a dingy room in Bombay, with “lots of dreams, lots of enthusiasm and lots of ideas, but very short on cash,” as Murthy puts it, Infosys has come a long way.
Infosys chief executive Nandan Nilekani was more somber in the hour of joy. “We are the first to break all precedents. In the eye of the world, we now had a whole lot of issues to understand. We’re at the end of a long and tedious process, it’s our own tryst with destiny,” he said matter-of-factly.
What makes the event historic is the direct presence of an Indian company in the US securities market. More importantly, Infosys was found acceptable for trading in the “Mecca of global capitalism.” This means that Infosys meets the strict financial, capitalization and corporate governance standards expected of a Nasdaq-listed company.
Infosys will now rub shoulders with the global hi-tech giants Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Netscape and you name it. Nasdaq, a cutting-edge competitor to the more traditional New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), can trade more than a billion shares a day, and its transparent working system is stunning.
Infosys opened on Nasdaq to trade dreams. While the company was offering 1,800,000 American Depository Receipts (ADRs) representing 900,000 shares at $34 per ADR, it quickly climbed to $37 before reaching $41. Half a million shares were traded in half an hour, Infosys officials said.
Meanwhile, a host of Indian companies are awaiting the outcome of the “historic” event before deciding to join Nasdaq. BPL almost got through but fell back due to pricing issues.
Others on the sidelines include HCL, NIIT, Wipro, Zee Telefilms, Ranbaxy, and Satyam Computers. Dewang Mehta believes there will be at least 10 more Desi companies in a year and possibly 100 in another five years, an Indian invasion is really on the horizon.
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