Nearly a decade after it first applied for its initial public offering (IPO), the National Stock Exchange (NSE) received the final regulatory approval on Friday, paving the way for what could be one of India’s biggest IPOs.
The issue will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS), with 10 shareholders selling a combined 148.905 million shares, equivalent to about 6% of NSE’s 2,475 million outstanding shares.
State Bank of India will be the biggest seller, offloading 24.75 million shares, or 1% of NSE’s equity. Mauritius-based MS Strategic, an entity linked to Morgan Stanley, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will be the next-largest sellers, offering 16 million and 11.874 million shares, respectively, representing stakes of about 0.65% and 0.48%.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), NSE’s largest shareholder with a 10.72% stake, will not participate in the OFS.
Other selling shareholders include Aranda Investments, the Mauritius-based wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings; Bank of Baroda; Stock Holding Corporation of India; and four public-sector insurers — General Insurance Corporation of India, New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company.
The IPO could translate into a substantial windfall for some of NSE’s long-standing shareholders. NSE shares were trading at around Rs 1,975-2,050 apiece in the unlisted market as of Friday evening, while the weighted average acquisition cost for several domestic shareholders participating in the OFS is less than Rs 1 per share.
At prevailing unlisted-market prices, the 148.905-million-share OFS could be valued at roughly Rs 29,400-30,500 crore. At that size, NSE’s offering would surpass Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,900-crore IPO in October 2024, currently the country’s largest.
NSE, however, could face competition from Jio Platforms, which has also recently received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO, and plans to raise around Rs 40,000 crore.
The regulatory clearance marks a major milestone in NSE’s long-delayed journey to the public markets.
The exchange enters the IPO process on the back of strong earnings. NSE’s consolidated net profit rose 11% year-on-year to Rs 3,122 crore in the first quarter of FY27, while revenue from operations increased 13% to Rs 4,560 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley India, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), SBI Capital Markets, Avendus Capital, DAM Capital Advisors, HDFC Bank, IDBI Capital Markets and Securities, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors and Pantomath Capital Advisors are the book-running lead managers to the issue. MUFG Intime India is the registrar.