NSE Raises Rs 6,746 Cr From Anchors Ahead Of Mega IPO; LIC, Goldman Sachs Among Key Investors

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday garnered Rs 6,746 crore from anchor investors, including state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Goldman Sachs and Fidelity, ahead of the opening of its much-awaited IPO subscription.

Additionally, sovereign wealth funds GIC Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Norges Bank as well as Eastspring and HSBC Global Asset Management participated in the anchor round.

According to a circular uploaded on the BSE website, NSE allotted over 3.77 crore shares to 150 anchor investors at Rs 1,785 apiece, the upper end of its IPO price band. This takes the transaction size to Rs 6,746.2 crore.

Foreign institutional investors (FPIs) accounted for about 43 per cent of the anchor book,

with investments of Rs 2,883 crore. More than 20 foreign long-only funds participated, with investors from the US, Europe and Asia spanning sovereign wealth funds, regional long-only funds and global mutual funds.

Domestic institutional participation was also broad-based, with the participation of mutual funds, insurance companies, pension funds and other institutions. More than 25 large domestic mutual funds and 11 major insurance and pension companies invested around Rs 3,588 crore, accounting for 53 per cent of the anchor book.

The participating mutual funds included ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Nippon India Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Kotak Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton, Edelweiss Mutual Fund and HSBC Mutual Fund.

LIC, NSE’s largest shareholder with a 10.72 per cent stake, participated through three entities – LIC, LIC Mutual Fund and LIC Pension Fund – investing more than Rs 500 crore.

NSE is among the top five holdings of LIC, whose existing stake in the exchange is larger than the portion being offered through the initial public offering (IPO).

The SBI group, which is selling a 1 per cent stake in NSE through State Bank of India and SBI Capital Markets, also participated in the anchor book through SBI Mutual Fund, SBI General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and SBI Pension Fund, investing more than Rs 400 crore.

The strong institutional response comes ahead of NSE’s Rs 22,569-crore IPO, for which the exchange has fixed a price band of Rs 1,700-1,785 per equity share. ​ The exchange will command a valuation of Rs 4.2 lakh crore to Rs 4.42 lakh crore at the price band.

The issue will open for public subscription on September 17 and close on September 21.

The offering, which comprises an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 12.64 crore equity shares by existing shareholders, is set to become India’s second-largest public issue after Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore IPO in 2024.

The reduction in the OFS size from the earlier planned 14.9 crore shares has brought down the overall issue size from the initial estimate of around Rs 30,000 crore. At the lower end of the price band, the issue is estimated at around Rs 21,494 crore, while at the upper end it would amount to around Rs 22,569 crore.

The IPO will surpass the Rs 21,000-crore offering of LIC in 2022, but remain below Hyundai Motor India’s record issue.

Since the offering is entirely an OFS, the proceeds from the share sale will accrue to the existing shareholders and not to the NSE.

The public issue marks a significant milestone for NSE, whose listing plans had remained stalled for nearly a decade amid regulatory hurdles, including those linked to the co-location controversy.

NSE is expected to make its market debut on September 24.