NSE Seeks SEBI Approval For IPO, Plans Launch By September
Once the NSE IPO is approved by SEBI, the bourse will appoint merchant bankers to help file the DRHP, CEO Vikram Limaye says.
The National Stock Exchange has approached the Securities and Exchange Board of India for approval to launch its initial public offering by September this year.
"We have approached SEBI to seek its approval for the IPO, and after that we will start the process of appointing merchant bankers, who will help the exchange in filing the draft prospectus," Vikram Limaye, managing director and chief executive officer of NSE told Press Trust of India in New Delhi on Monday.
India’s largest stock exchange is hoping to float the IPO by the third quarter of 2020, subject to approval from the capital markets regulator. The entire IPO would be an offer-for-sale, wherein existing shareholders will sell NSE shares.
On Jan. 3, State Bank of India announced that it is looking to sell about 50 lakh shares, equivalent to 1.01 percent stake, of NSE as part of its capital raising exercise. Currently, SBI holds 5.19 percent stake in the exchange.
NSE has revived its listing plans, which were on the backburner following a probe by SEBI against the exchange and some of its top officials. It was alleged that the bourse misused its co-location facility and gave preferential access to certain trading members.
SEBI had in April 2019 barred the NSE from accessing the capital markets for a period of six months. It had also asked NSE to "disgorge" more than Rs 625 crore along with 12 percent interest per annum in connection with the co-location case.
Earlier, in December 2016, NSE had filed draft papers with SEBI for its much-awaited IPO. The initial share sale was expected to garner Rs 10,000 crore. Shareholders were looking to offload 22 percent shares to the public through the OFS route.