SEBI has cleared NSE’s long-delayed IPO, issuing its observation letter for the roughly Rs 30,000 crore offer on September 4.
The clearance ends a delay of nearly a decade tied to the co-location scandal, which had repeatedly stalled NSE’s public listing plans.
Subscription for the offer-for-sale issue opens on September 15, with a BSE listing targeted for around September 24-25.
NSE will debut on the rival BSE rather than its own exchange, as regulations prevent it from listing on its own platform.
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.
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.
Because exchange regulations prevent NSE from listing on its own trading platform, the exchange will debut on the rival Bombay Stock Exchange instead.
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.
Photo of the NSE building, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
