MCX prices $135 mln IPO at top end of range

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has priced its initial public offering at the top of an indicative range, after investors bid for more than 54 times the shares on offer in a sign of revival of the country's dormant primary market.

MCX, which will become the first Indian bourse to list its shares on an exchange, has fixed the IPO price at 1,032 rupees, raising 6.6 billion rupees, the company said in a newspaper advertisement on Monday.

The exchange's majority shareholder Financial Technologies India Ltd (FITE.NS) and investors including state-controlled State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda (BOB.NS) sold part of their holdings in the IPO.

About 6.4 million shares were offered in the IPO, in a price band of 860 rupees to 1,032 rupees apiece, including by other shareholders.

The first major IPO by an Indian company in seven months is seen as a test of demand for new share offerings after weak local markets and the euro zone debt crisis forced many companies to shelve equity sale plans last year.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and India's Edelweiss Capital (EDEL.NS) were the bookrunners for the IPO.

(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)