Several major shareholders of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) have sharply reduced the number of shares they plan to sell in the exchange’s initial public offering (IPO), bringing the offer size down to around 12.4 crore shares from 14.89 crore proposed earlier, according to people aware of the development.
The revised offer would represent around 5.1-5.2 per cent of NSE’s equity, compared with 6 per cent earlier.
State Bank of India (SBI), the largest selling shareholder, has cut its proposed sale to 1.597 crore shares from 2.475 crore. SBI Capital Markets will sell 87.8 lakh shares, but this represents a transfer of part of the SBI group’s earlier allocation and does not increase the overall offer.
MS Strategic (Mauritius) has reduced its offer to 1.10 crore shares from 1.60 crore, while Bank of Baroda will sell 76.9 lakh shares against 1.099 crore earlier.
Stock Holding Corporation of India has cut its proposed sale to 61.9 lakh shares from 1.089 crore, while General Insurance Corporation of India will offer 61.9 lakh shares against 1.066 crore earlier.
National Insurance Company will sell 40 lakh shares against 60 lakh earlier, Mahag Investments 30 lakh against 50 lakh, and Indian Bank 15 lakh against 24.8 lakh.
The reductions come as shareholders reassess the valuation they could receive through the IPO at the lower-than-earlier expected price band. NSE shares have been trading above ₹2,000 in the unlisted market.
At the indicative price band of ₹1,700-1,785 a share, the IPO would be worth around ₹21,500-22,600 crore, well below the nearly ₹30,000 crore issue size estimated earlier.
The revised red herring prospectus (RHP) is expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by Thursday evening, the people said.
NSE is expected to announce the price band at a press conference on Friday.
The IPO is entirely an offer for sale by existing shareholders, with no fresh shares being issued by NSE. The exchange had originally planned to sell 14.89 crore shares, equivalent to about 6 per cent of its equity.