National Stock Exchange plans to file draft IPO documents by end of March

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE), the country's largest exchange, plans to file its draft prospectus for its long awaited public listing ‍by the end of March, according ​to two people familiar with the matter.

The exchange is in discussions with investment bankers and law firms to finalise the prospectus and gauge investor appetite for what could be one of India's biggest ever initial public offerings, the sources said.

NSE has not indicated how much of its equity would be listed. A platform that trades NSE's unlisted shares puts the exchange's total ​value at $55 billion.

Formal appointments of bankers and lawyers will follow a no-objection certificate from the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a second source said, confirming that early talks have begun.

 

NSE did not respond to request for comments on Monday.

On Saturday, SEBI's chairperson said the regulator could "possibly" grant the required approval for NSE's listing this month.

LONG DELAYED LISTING

India's biggest bourse and the world's most active derivatives exchange has been trying to list since 2016. Approval has been delayed by regulatory investigations into its conduct on fair market access for traders via its co-location facilities.

The case is currently pending in India's Supreme Court.

Last year, NSE offered to settle the matter by paying 13.87 billion rupees ($154 million), and the regulator is still considering ??the settlement.

Ahead of the public issue, NSE's unlisted shares trade at over 2,000 Indian rupees ($22.16) apiece, according to ‌Unlisted Arena, an Indian platform that facilitates buying ​and selling of unlisted shares, valuing the exchange at 5 trillion rupees or $55 billion.

Its listed smaller peer BSE Ltd trades at 2,767 rupees per share.

Pre-listing, NSE has 177,807 ??shareholders, making it India's largest unlisted company by number of investors, adding to the complexity of ??the public ‍listing.

Lawyers drafting the IPO documents are working on mechanisms to ensure fair exit opportunities for this large shareholder base, said one of the sources. Preference for exit is likely ‍to ‌be given to banks ​and foreign institutions that have held NSE shares for ‍a long time, the person added.

NSE's top institutional shareholders include Life Insurance Corporation of India, State ‍Bank ‍of India, Temasek Holdings, ‌Morgan Stanley and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.