The National Stock Exchange is set to announce its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) as it is set to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) today. As per the reports, the proposed IPO is expected to value NSE at more than Rs 5 lakh crore, potentially making it one of India’s largest-ever public offerings with the offer size could be around 5% of the exchange’s equity capital, well above SEBI’s minimum public float requirement of 2.5% for companies valued above Rs 10,000 crore.
In the unlisted market, NSE currently trades at around Rs 1,950-2,050 per share, implying a valuation of roughly Rs 5 lakh crore.
Earlier, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Ashish Chauhan, in an interview with ANI said, “The NSE will not list its shares on its own platform when it goes public. Indian regulations prohibit exchanges from self-listing. As a regulated institution, the NSE cannot regulate itself, and therefore must seek listing on an alternative exchange(s). It’s a regulation of India, and we have to abide by that.”
NSE in March concluded the process for the selection of merchant bankers, law firms and other intermediaries for its proposed IPO.
Twenty merchant bankers selected include Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, JM Financial Limited, Axis Capital Limited, IIFL Capital Services Limited (formerly known as IIFL Securities Limited), Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, SBI Capital Markets Limited, Nuvama Wealth Management Limited, HDFC Bank Limited, Avendus Capital Private Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited, J.P. Morgan India Private Limited, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Limited, 360 ONE WAM Limited, Anand Rathi Advisors Limited, DAM Capital Advisors Limited, Pantomath Capital Advisors Private Limited, and Equirus Capital Private Limited.