NSDL Secures Rs 1,201 Crore from Anchor Investors Before IPO Launch

The National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) secured over Rs 1,201 crore from institutional investors on Tuesday, just before its initial public offering (IPO) opened for public subscription. This anchor investment included participation from both domestic and international institutional investors such as Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Smallcap World Fund Inc, SBI Mutual Fund, Fidelity Funds, and Nippon India Mutual Fund.

Among the investors, LIC emerged as the largest participant by acquiring nearly 18 lakh shares, which is 11.99% of the total anchor book, for Rs 144 crore. The circular on the BSE's website also mentioned other investors like SBI Life Insurance Company, HDFC Life Insurance Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Ashoka WhiteOak India Opportunities Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, and HDFC Mutual Fund.

NSDL IPO Details and Pricing

NSDL's IPO is set to open on July 30 and close on August 1. The price band for the shares has been determined at Rs 760 to Rs 800 each. The IPO is entirely an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 5.01 crore shares by existing shareholders such as the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Union Bank of India, and Administrator of Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).

NSDL will not receive any proceeds from this IPO since it is fully an OFS. At the upper end of the price band, the IPO is expected to raise Rs 4,011 crore, valuing NSDL at Rs 16,000 crore. This listing will make NSDL the second publicly traded depository in India after Central Depository Services (CDSL), which was listed in 2017.

Compliance with SEBI Regulations

The listing is significant for NSDL to comply with SEBI's ownership norms that restrict any entity from holding more than a 15% stake in a depository company. Currently, IDBI Bank holds a 26.10% stake and NSE holds a 24% stake in NSDL, both exceeding the permissible limit.

NSDL is a SEBI-registered market infrastructure institution offering various products and services to India's financial markets. It pioneered securities dematerialisation in November 1996 following the Depositories Act introduction in that year.

Financial Performance and Investor Allocation

For the financial year 2024-25, NSDL's net profit increased by 24.57% to Rs 343 crore while total income rose by 12.41% to Rs 1,535 crore compared to FY 2023-24. Half of the issue size is reserved for qualified institutional buyers, with retail investors allocated 35% and non-institutional buyers getting the remaining 15%.

Investors can bid for a minimum lot size of 18 shares and multiples thereof. A minimum investment of Rs 14,400 is required for one lot of shares. The book-running lead managers for this issue include ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets India, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, and SBI Capital Markets.

Shares of NSDL are anticipated to be listed on August 6.

With inputs from PTI