The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) has secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its proposed initial public offering (IPO), taking the country’s largest stock exchange one step closer to a long-awaited stock market listing. SEBI disclosed the development in its processing-status report for the week ended Friday. The regulatory clearance removes a crucial hurdle for NSE as it prepares for what is expected to be one of India’s biggest public offerings. NSE had submitted its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) to SEBI on June 17. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd is serving as the coordinating lead manager for the proposed issue. The proposed NSE public issue will be structured as an offer for sale (OFS), according to the draft documents. This means the exchange will not issue any new shares. Instead, existing shareholders will sell a portion of their holdings to investors through the IPO. The offer is proposed to include up to 148.91 million equity shares, each carrying a face value of Re 1. Since the issue is entirely an OFS, NSE will not receive any proceeds from the shares sold during the public offering. The money raised will instead go to the shareholders participating in the sale. The scale of NSE’s proposed listing is reflected in the number of investment banks involved in the transaction. The exchange has appointed 20 Book Running Lead Managers (BRLMs), or merchant bankers, for the IPO. The unusually large banking consortium highlights the importance of the proposed issue and the investor interest expected around the listing of one of India’s most prominent financial market institutions. NSE operates one of the country's key securities markets and its IPO has been closely watched by investors and market participants. While SEBI’s approval represents a major milestone, the exchange still has several procedural and regulatory steps to complete before the IPO can open for subscription. NSE will now have to work towards finalising the offer document and other issue-related details. The company will also need to complete the remaining requirements associated with its proposed listing. The timing of the public issue is therefore likely to depend on the completion of these formalities and the finalisation of the updated offer document. With the regulatory approval now in place, attention is expected to move towards the next stage of NSE’s IPO process. Investors will be watching for updates to the offer document, details of the proposed share sale and the eventual schedule for the issue. Get Latest News live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Business, Companies and around the world. She is working as a Chief Copy Editor at Times Now’s Business Desk, where she covers key developments in the stock market, Indian corporates across se... View More