After years of regulatory hurdles and anticipation, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has finally filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offering (IPO), a major milestone in the exchange’s journey to the public markets. According to the DRHP, the issue is entirely an offer for sale (OFS), with no fresh issue component. A total of 14.89 crore equity shares will be sold by existing shareholders through the OFS. State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest selling shareholder, planning to offload up to 2.47 crore shares, followed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) with up to 1.87 crore shares, MS Strategic (Mauritius) Limited with 1.6 crore shares, Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd with 1.12 crore shares, and Bank of Baroda with 1.09 crore shares. Other participating shareholders include Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (1.08 crore shares), General Insurance Corporation of India (1.06 crore shares), The New India Assurance Company Ltd (1.05 crore shares), National Insurance Company Ltd (60 lakh shares), and United India Insurance Company Ltd (60 lakh shares). As of the DRHP filing, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was the largest shareholder in NSE, holding a 10.72% stake. It was followed by Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd with a 4.54% stake, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited with 4.44%, and SBI Capital Markets Limited with 4.33%. The IPO is being managed by a consortium of20 merchant bankers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, SBI Capital Markets, HDFC Bank, and JM Financial, along with eight law firms. Earlier this year, the exchange secured regulatory clearance for the listing, clearing a key hurdle in its decade-long journey to the public markets. Financially, NSE continues to be one of India’s most profitable market infrastructure institutions. In FY26, its revenue from operations declined 3% year-on-year to Rs 16,601 crore, while profit after tax fell over 15% to Rs 10,302 crore. The listing will put NSE alongside BSE Ltd, India's only publicly traded stock exchange, which debuted on the stock markets in 2017. Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever. You may find a list of our investorshere.
