BSE's Rs 1,240-cr IPO sees over 1 mn applications, oversubscribed 50 times

With the high subscription, the offering will be priced at the top end, valuing BSE at Rs 4,326 cr

The country’s first Initial Public Offering (IPO) of equity from a stock exchange has generated big demand across categories of investors.

BSE Ltd’s Rs 1,240-crore issue saw 50 times more demand than the shares on offer. The institutional investor portion was subscribed 49 times, the high net worth individual portion nearly 160 times and the retail (small) investor portion by nearly six times. Investment bankers said the issue saw a little over a million applications, with the exchange’s reasonable valuations compared to peers such as MCX and steady revenue growth over the years.

“The (issue's) pricing was also moderate, leaving some money on the table for investors,” said Salil Pitale, managing director for investment banking at Axis Capital, one of the bankers to the issue. The price band was Rs 805-806 a share; with the high subscription, the offering will be priced at the top end, valuing the BSE at Rs 4,326 crore. The IPO was entirely an offer for sale, by some of the existing investors. Most brokerages had recommended their clients subscribe to the offer.

“We believe the stock exchange business has significant entry barriers. While BSE has a significantly lower market share compared to the National Stock Exchange (NSE), it is currently the best option in the listed space. Further, we believe that with cash per share of Rs 512 (64 per cent of the issue price) and an implied price to earnings ratio (PER) of 35 times the FY16 earnings per share, compared to 56 times for MCX, the IPO is available at a reasonable valuation,” IDBI Capital had said.