BSE's crucial test
M C Vaijayanthi Mumbai, March 8 It is the last day for BSE members to tender their shares into an escrow account at a base price of Rs 5200 per share as per the demutualisation schedule fixed by the regulator. But doubt has arisen if members will stick to the deadline and offer the shares by the end of the day. "I do not think they will get the required number of shares", said an active trading member on the exchange on conditions of anonymity. But, Mohan Vijan, Chairman, BSE Brokers Forum, the agency that is coordinating the offer for sale, says the response is very good. "Indians have a tendency to wait till the last day, so we would have to wait till the offer closes", says Vijan. The total numbers of shares to be put on offer for sale are 46,57,500 shares and to get 51 per cent of ownership offloaded, BSE needs 39,00,500 shares from its members. BSE needs to offload 51 per cent of shares owned by its members to other investors by May 2007...