The National Stock Exchange of India’s Rs 22,569-crore initial public offering (IPO) was fully subscribed on the second day of bidding on Friday, driven by strong demand from institutional investors.The IPO received bids for about 8.83 crore shares against 8.86 crore shares on offer by 2:44 pm, according to exchange data cited by Reuters.The issue is one of India’s largest public offerings and is the country’s second-largest IPO after Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore issue in 2024.
QIB portion sees strong demand
The Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) category, which accounts for up to half of the issue, was subscribed 1.20 times, while the non-institutional investors’ portion was subscribed 1.19 times, according to BSE data.The retail investors’ quota had received 61% subscription.NSE had raised Rs 6,746 crore from anchor investors on Wednesday, with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Goldman Sachs and Fidelity among the participants. Sovereign wealth funds including GIC Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Norges Bank, along with Eastspring and HSBC Global Asset Management, also participated in the anchor round, as per PTI.The anchor allocation included about $703.04 million worth of shares to global and domestic investors, with LIC emerging as the largest investor.
IPO is entirely an offer for sale
The NSE IPO comprises an Offer For Sale (OFS) of up to 12.64 crore equity shares by existing shareholders. Since it is entirely an OFS, the proceeds will go to the selling shareholders and NSE itself will not receive funds from the issue.The exchange has fixed a price band of Rs 1,700-1,785 per share, valuing NSE at up to Rs 4.42 lakh crore at the upper end of the band.The reduction in the OFS size from the earlier planned 14.9 crore shares brought down the issue size from an initial estimate of around Rs 30,000 crore.The public issue will close on September 21, with NSE shares expected to make their market debut on September 24.The IPO marks a major step in NSE’s efforts to list on the stock market, with its plans having remained stalled for nearly a decade amid regulatory hurdles, including issues linked to the co-location controversy.