The much-awaited initial public offering of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is likely to hit the market during the January-March quarter of the current fiscal, sources said on Thursday. The exchange has been trying to list its shares since 2016.
“Once the exchange gets a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the regulator, it will file a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). Depending upon the go-ahead from SEBI, the exchange will go in for roadshows. Following this, the IPO is likely to be launched in the last quarter of the current fiscal,” a source said on condition of anonymity.
The issuance of an NoC from SEBI is subject to acceptance of NSE’s settlement application by the regulator. According to reports, the exchange has offered to pay the markets regulator around ₹1,400 crore to settle a legal dispute. Once the settlement is accepted, the appeal before the Supreme Court would be withdrawn. The settlement is expected to be approved by SEBI in July after its internal committee, a high-powered advisory committee, and whole-time members formally review and accept it, sources said.
Co-location case
The matter is related to the co-location case in which it was alleged that some brokers exploited NSE’s facility by placing their servers physically closer to the exchange’s servers for faster data access and gained an unfair edge over others. Similarly, SEBI alleged that NSE provided preferential access to certain brokers through the use of dark fibre for faster connectivity to co-location facilities.
Signs of a potential settlement emerged after SEBI’s Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said last week that the regulator is working closely with the NSE to resolve issues hindering its IPO. Following the exchange’s annual earnings earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer Ashish Kumar Chauhan told analysts and investors that the regulator had identified four areas requiring resolution, including pending legal cases.
Meanwhile, according to a Bloomberg report, investor interest in the NSE remains robust. The exchange, backed by investors such as Life Insurance Corporation of India and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has seen its private market valuation jump from $36 billion in September to $50 billion, marketing material posted on Linkedin last week by US-based investment firm Drew Investments said. The firm is raising a special purpose vehicle to invest in NSE at ₹1,550 to ₹1,700 per share.
Its financial performance shows NSE earned a total income of over ₹19,000 crore during fiscal year 2024-25, as against over ₹16,000 crore during fiscal year 2023-24, showing a growth of 17 per cent. During this period, its profits went up to over ₹12,000 crore, registering a growth of 47 per cent.