India’s National Stock Exchange has received regulatory approval to proceed with its long-delayed initial public offering, potentially the country’s largest-ever share sale, signalling a major milestone after years of delays and governance concerns.
India’s National Stock Exchange has cleared a major regulatory hurdle on the path to a long-awaited stock market listing, after the Securities and Exchange Board of India issued an observation letter that effectively allows the bourse to move ahead with its initial public offering, according to Bloomberg and filings shown on the regulator’s website. The approval puts the exchange on course for what could be the country’s largest-ever public share sale.
The deal is expected to be structured entirely as an offer for sale, meaning existing shareholders will sell stock rather than the exchange raising new money itself. Market reports said the planned issue could be worth about ₹30,000 crore and involve roughly 14.89 crore shares, or about 6% of NSE’s equity, with the exchange receiving no proceeds from the transaction.
Among the sellers are expected to be State Bank of India, MS Strategic, which is linked to Morgan Stanley, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. India IPO and other market reports said Life Insurance Corporation of India, which holds a 10.72% stake, does not plan to participate in the offering. That leaves the issue largely as a way for long-time shareholders to pare holdings after years of delay.
The approval marks a significant step in the exchange’s decade-long bid to list, a process that has repeatedly stalled over regulatory and governance issues. According to market reports, NSE filed draft papers in June, but the price band and subscription dates have not yet been announced.
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