Thousands of shareholders of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. may soon get a chance to sell stock as part of the bourse’s planned initial public offering, in line with regulatory requirements, according to people familiar with the matter.
The bourse will contact investors who have held NSE shares in the unlisted market for at least a year, allowing them to tender stock in the offer-for-sale component, the people said, through which existing shareholders can sell shares to the public.
The exercise could take over a month, after which NSE will file its draft red herring prospectus with regulators by the end of May, the people added, asking not to be identified as the details are private.
An NSE representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Under Securities and Exchange Board of India rules, existing shareholders are allowed to sell all or part of their holdings in an IPO, provided the shares have been held continuously for at least one year prior to the draft filing. NSE plans to sell about 4.5% of its equity in the secondary sale. If tenders exceed that level, acceptance may be determined on a proportional basis, the people said.
The bourse had 159,394 shareholders as of June 30, 2025, up from 39,201 as of March 31, 2025, according to its website. The count rose further to 186,481 as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Preparations for the IPO appear to be gathering pace. On Thursday, NSE appointed 20 banks to run the offering — exceeding a previous record of 18 bookrunners tapped by ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. for its listing last year — and has also hired eight law firms to advise on the transaction. The exchange last month set up a committee and named Rothschild & Co. as an independent adviser to oversee the selection process, a mandate that concluded on Thursday.
The IPO will consist entirely of an offer for sale, with existing investors expected to divest about 4% to 4.5% of the company’s equity, Bloomberg News has reported. Based on unlisted market prices, the share sale could raise about $2.5 billion.
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