Mumbai: Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and private equity fund Actis have agreed to acquire a 6 percent stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for undisclosed sums, the exchange said.

The deals will take foreign ownership of the NSE to 26 per cent, the maximum allowed by Indian law. Earlier in January the NYSE Group Inc. Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic and Softbank Asian Infrastructure Fund paid $460 million for stakes totalling 20 percent in the NSE.

Morgan Stanley will buy 3 percent, Citigroup 2 percent and Actis 1 per cent stake, NSE said in a statement late on Thursday.

The three firms will buy the stakes held by IDBI, State Bank of India, SBI Capital Markets., Corporation Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce the NSE said.

Individual foreign holdings in the Exchange are limited to 5 per cent.