NSE Files $2-Billion DRHP: A Landmark IPO After Nine Years

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has officially restarted its long-awaited journey to the public markets by filing its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI. This estimated $2-billion initial public offering marks a significant comeback for India’s dominant exchange operator after nearly a decade of regulatory delays.

Details of the $2-Billion Offer for Sale

The proposed IPO is structured entirely as an Offer for Sale (OFS), meaning the NSE itself will not receive any proceeds from the issue; instead, existing shareholders will be offloading portions of their holdings. The DRHP proposes the sale of up to 14.89 crore shares, each having a face value of Re 1.

Global giant Tiger Global has emerged as the largest participant in this exit, proposing to sell 1.48 crore shares, which constitutes over 13% of the total offer size. Other significant international investors reducing their stakes include Aranda Investments (Mauritius) and SAIF II-SE Investments.

Major Domestic Institutions Set to Exit

The listing will see significant participation from India’s leading banking and financial institutions. On the domestic front, IDBI Bank plans to sell 74.15 lakh shares, while State Bank of India (SBI) is set to offload 64.28 lakh shares. SBI Capital Markets is also participating with a sale of 53.62 lakh shares.

Other notable institutional sellers include IFCI, which will offload 34.31 lakh shares, alongside HDFC Standard Life, Bajaj Holdings & Investment, and Bank of Baroda. The scale of these exits underscores the massive liquidity and interest surrounding the exchange's transition to a listed entity.

Overcoming the Co-location Hurdle and Valuation

The NSE's path to the market has been fraught with challenges since its original Rs 10,000-crore IPO attempt in 2016 was derailed by the co-location controversy. That scandal, involving allegations of preferential access to market data for certain algorithmic traders, led to years of investigations and governance reforms. With SEBI now issuing a no-objection certificate, the final major regulatory overhang has been removed.

بناءً على أسعار السوق الحالية غير المدرجة التي تتراوح بين 1,950 روبية و2,050 روبية للسهم الواحد، تُقدر قيمة NSE بنحو 5 لآخ كرور روبية. ويشير المحللون إلى أنه بينما يتم تداول البورصة بتقييم مرتفع يبلغ حوالي 45 ضعف أرباح السنة المالية 2026، إلا أنها تظل بسعر أكثر جاذبية من المنافسين مثل BSE (70 ضعفًا) وMCX (80 ضعفًا).

المخاطر وتقلبات السوق

ورغم حالة الحماس، يحث المحللون على توخي الحذر فيما يتعلق باستقرار أرباح البورصة. تعتمد إيرادات NSE بشكل كبير على تداول المشتقات، وهو قطاع يمكن أن يشهد تقلبات عالية. علاوة على ذلك، فإن تدخلات SEBI الأخيرة التي تهدف إلى الحد من مشاركة التجزئة في قطاع العقود الآجلة والخيارات (F&O) قد تؤثر على أحجام التداول، وبالتالي على إجمالي إيرادات البورصة.

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