Photo of the NSE building, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
NSE’s Rs 30,000 crore IPO cleared after 10-year regulatory fight
SEBI issued its observation letter clearing NSE’s roughly Rs 30,000 crore IPO on September 4, ending a decade-long regulatory delay tied to the co-location scandal.
NSE’s roughly Rs 30,000 crore IPO has been cleared after a decade-long regulatory fight, with SEBI issuing its observation letter on September 4.
The delay was rooted in the co-location scandal, a dispute that had repeatedly pushed back the exchange’s plans to go public.
Subscription for the offer-for-sale issue opens on September 15, with listing on the BSE targeted for around September 24-25.
NSE cannot list on its own trading platform under exchange rules, so it will debut on the rival Bombay Stock Exchange instead.
The approval followed the Supreme Court’s dismissal of SEBI’s appeals against NSE in the co-location data centre and dark-fibre cases on September 3.
The IPO involves an offer of approximately 149 million equity shares, with the overall issue size estimated at around Rs 30,000 crore.
Life Insurance Corporation of India is expected to retain its stake in NSE through the listing, even as several other existing shareholders use the offering to cash out.
The IPO is set to rank among the largest public offerings in Indian stock market history once it completes, given the scale of the offer and NSE’s dominant position in domestic exchange trading.
NSE has long been the largest stock exchange in India by trading volume, making its public listing a closely watched event for both retail and institutional investors.
The approval clears a decade-long regulatory fight tied to the co-location scandal, which had repeatedly delayed the exchange’s plans to go public.
NSE eventually settled with SEBI, paying roughly Rs 1,491 crore, about $155 million, to resolve the matter and clear the path for the IPO.
India’s Supreme Court dismissed SEBI’s appeals against NSE in cases tied to the co-location data centre and dark-fibre matters on September 3, removing a major hurdle just a day before the observation letter was issued.
The fully offer-for-sale issue is set to open for subscription on September 15, with a listing on the BSE targeted for around September 24-25.
Photo of the NSE building, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0