NSE cuts IPO size, may raise 23.5k crore

MUMBAI: IPO-bound National Stock Exchange (NSE), the largest stock exchange in India by turnover and profits, is reducing the size of its offering to about 5.3% of its equity base, from 6% planned earlier. The stocks will be offered in a price band of Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,785 per share, people in the know said.In effect, the reduced size and also the price band would together cut the offer size to about Rs 23,500 crore. Earlier, NSE's IPO was expected to raise about Rs 30,000 crore, which would have made it the largest current public listing in India.According to people in the know, even during pre-IPO days when NSE management was persuading its shareholders to offer their shares in the IPO, very few were willing to sell their stakes in the offer. They were willing to hold on to the shares, see the post-IPO price on the bourse and once the lock-in was to end, decide about their holdings, a source said.At the upper end of the reduced price band, NSE would be valued at about Rs 4.4 lakh crore, down from an earlier estimate of about Rs 5 lakh crore.On Sept 4, markets regulator Sebi cleared NSE's IPO documents. Earlier, existing shareholders together were selling nearly 15 crore shares, which is now being reduced to about 13.2 crore shares.

Market participants said the offer would be launched "as soon as possible". And according to merchant banking sources, the offer could open as soon as Sept 16.Currently, in the unofficial space for trading of shares, NSE is quoting between Rs 1,950 and Rs 2,050. In the same market, the grey market premium (GMP)-the estimated premium that the share could command at listing-has been fluctuating over the last few days.