The nearly Rs 30,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is likely to open for public subscription on September 18 and list on September 25, sources said on Tuesday.The price band for the much-awaited issue is expected to be announced on September 15, followed by the anchor book on September 17, according to the sources cited by news agency PTI.The public issue is likely to remain open on September 18, September 21 and September 22.There has been no official announcement from NSE on the proposed issue calendar.If launched at around Rs 30,000 crore, the offering would surpass Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore IPO in 2024 and become India’s largest IPO.Also read: NSE IPO could be worth Rs 30,000 crore after Sebi gives green signal
NSE IPO to be an offer for sale
The NSE IPO will comprise an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 148.9 million equity shares with a face value of Rs 1 each. The shares represent nearly 6% of NSE’s paid-up equity capital.There will be no fresh issue of shares, meaning NSE itself will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, according to the sources.The IPO follows the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s clearance of NSE’s offer document.Existing shareholders are together offering nearly 15 crore shares in the issue, with the price band to be announced before the IPO opens.
SBI group among largest sellers
The SBI group is the largest seller in the NSE IPO, according to the offer document.SBI is selling nearly 1.6 crore shares, while its arm SBI Capital Markets is offloading 87.8 lakh shares.Other major sellers include MS Strategic (Mauritius), which is selling 1.6 crore shares; Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which is offering nearly 1.2 crore shares; Aranda Investments (Mauritius), which is selling a little over 1.1 crore shares; and Bank of Baroda, which is offloading about 1.1 crore shares.Domestic institutions selling part of their holdings include Stock Holding Corporation, General Insurance Corporation of India, New India Assurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance.
IPO follows years of regulatory hurdles
NSE has been planning to go public for more than a decade but had faced regulatory hurdles and court cases.Among the cases were matters related to alleged preferential treatment given to a group of brokers to access derivatives trading data ahead of others. The cases, commonly referred to as the co-location and dark-fibre cases, related to events during 2014 and 2015.In July, SEBI agreed to settle those cases against a total payment of Rs 1,491 crore. The settlement paved the way for NSE to proceed with its IPO plans.
NSE could set new IPO benchmark
At around Rs 30,000 crore, the NSE offering would be larger than Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore issue, which currently holds the record for India’s largest IPO.NSE shares were trading at around Rs 1,950-2,050 in the unofficial and unlisted market. If the IPO were priced at the lower end of that range, NSE’s valuation would be around Rs 4.8 lakh crore, or about $51 billion at the exchange rate.The NSE IPO is expected to be followed later in the year by another large public offering from Jio Platforms, which could target around Rs 37,000 crore.
