The Indian equity exchange National Stock Exchange (NSE) coil likely roll out its initial public offering shortly, in the upcoming weeks, as the market regulator body Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is all set to file to allow the exchange to re-file its prospectus for the share sale.
If given the green signal by SEBI, NSE’s IPO launch will become the country’s biggest IPO, as it will likely value at over Rs 2 lakh crore.
The move for NSE will be a highly-awaited one, as the bourse had initially filed for the IPO back in 2016, followed by in 2019.
A Snippet into NSE’s IPO Launch
The bourse had initially applied to file for the IPO in December 2016. However, SEBI’s current chairman Ajay Tyagi had taken charge only two months prior to this and he ordered SEBI to withdraw its filed documents as the regulator had gotten involved in the algo trading scandal.
An investigation was put into place by SEBI on the alleged data theft and preferential access scam at NSE co-location servers.
Later in 2019, some senior NSE officials were charged by SEBI on allegations of lapses in its co-location trading systems that gave an advantage to a select few, and SEBI ordered them to pay over ?1,000-crore disgorgement amount, states BL.
However, legally now, the court has given no stay order on NSE’s proposed share sale. So in legal opinion, NSE can refile its prospectus. Additionally, the senior NSE officials against whom charges were pressed by the SEBI, are no longer in the bourse.
Valuation of NSE IPO
NSE’s shares are being quoted currently in the range of Rs 3,000- 4,000 per piece, while its price to earnings ratio is in the range 80- 100 in large private deals, which is only 38 for BSE.
NSE IPO is expected to be priced in the higher PE bracket, state experts. As of March 2021, the operating income of the bourse rose by 60% to Rs 5,625 crore, on a YoY basis, while the net profit incremented 89% to Rs 3,574 crore compared to Rs 1,885 crore in the previous year.