Tata Motors, the first Indian engineering company to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), opened at a close to 3% premium to Monday’s closing price on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE). The American Depository Shares opened at $9.15 per share (around Rs 420 at a conversion rate of Rs 45.90), which is at a premium of around Rs 11 per share — or 2.6% — compared to Monday’s closing price of Rs 409.30 on BSE.

The company listed its depository shares on NYSE through the conversion of its existing international global depository shares (GDSs) into American Depository Shares (ADSs). In the first hour of trading, the stock touched a high of $9.28 (around Rs 426) and low of $9.05 (around Rs 415). At the time of going to press, the ADS quoted at $9.28 (around Rs 426), a premium of around Rs 17 per share to the local share price). Till that time, a total of 2.28 lakh shares were traded on the NYSE.

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata was in New York for the listing and rang the opening bell on the NYSE in the presence of senior officials of Tata Motors and the NYSE. Subsequent to the NYSE listing, the GDS listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange would stand suspended. The symbol for the company on the NYSE will be ‘TTM’ and Citibank NA is the depository, the company stated in a release. The company has adopted and will publish its financial results annually under both the US GAAP and Indian GAAP.

Speaking on the occasion of the listing, Mr Tata stated, "It is a great privilege for us to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and we hope it will provide our overseas investors with greater opportunities to enhance their interest in the company. We are confident that the company will benefit from the capital market access that this listing provides, and from the adoption of the comprehensive corporate governance standards."

Tata Motors is the second company in the group after telecom company Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) to be listed on NYSE. Interestingly, on the domestic market, the Tata Motors stock saw a block deal of over five lakh shares within minutes of commencement of trading on the BSE. The price for the deal was Rs 412 per share. On the BSE, the Tata Motors stock opened at Rs 413.50, Rs 2 higher than the previous close. The stock touched a high of Rs 416.50 and a low of Rs 407.15. The stock followed a similar trend on the NSE, and saw a combined volume of 58 lakh shares on both the major exchanges.

The NYSE listing is another major development in the Tata Group, coming close on the heels of the biggest ever initial public offer — Rs 5,414.50 crore — by software company Tata Consultancy Services. As on date, there are 23.1 million outstanding ADSs, each representing one underlying ordinary share of the company. The ADSs in aggregate represent 6.4% of the paid-up share capital of the company.

The ADSs are fungible with the ordinary shares of the company upto the current permissible limits of 15.1 per cent of the company’s paid-up capital. The company’s shares are listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and are included in the Nifty index of the NSE and the BSE’s 30 Sensex. Tata Motors has a market capitalisation of around Rs 15,000 crore (approximately $3.3 billion).