The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) entered the listed market on Thursday, September 24, marking a major milestone for India's capital markets. The exchange's shares made their debut on the BSE at Rs. 1,809.10, compared with the IPO issue price of Rs. 1,785. This translated into a premium of about 1.35% over the issue price.
The IPO opened for subscription on September 17 and closed on September 21. It attracted bids for 50.58 crore shares against 8.86 crore shares on offer, resulting in an overall subscription of 5.71 times.
The listing comes after NSE's Rs. 22,561.57-crore initial public offering, which was entirely an offer for sale (OFS). Since the issue did not include a fresh issue of shares, NSE itself will not receive the IPO proceeds. The money will go to existing selling shareholders after applicable expenses and taxes.
Qualified institutional buyers led the demand, with their portion subscribed 12.68 times. Non-institutional investors subscribed 6.55 times, while the retail portion was subscribed 1.39 times. The allotment was finalised on September 22.
Experts suggest grey-market premiums had pointed to a relatively modest opening gain. The premium had fallen from substantially higher levels during the IPO process to around Rs. 40 on the morning of listing, implying an indicative price of about Rs. 1,825. However, grey-market premiums are unofficial and do not guarantee the actual listing price.
The actual opening at Rs. 1,809.10 was therefore below that indication. The stock subsequently touched Rs. 1,844 during early trading, taking the gain over the issue price to about 3.31%. The listing gives investors direct exposure to one of India's largest market infrastructure institutions.
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