NSDL, the larger of the country’s two depositories, is in the process of appointing investment bankers for the IPO, three people with the direct knowledge of the matter told ET. The offer is likely to be for an about 30% stake and the depository has met a group of investment bankers recently with the proposal, they said.
“Existing investors are looking to exit. The proposed initial offer would be mostly through an offer for sale,” said an executive with the direct knowledge of the matter.
According to latest publicly available data, IDBI Bank and National Stock Exchange are the largest shareholders with 30% and 24% stakes, respectively, as promoters. Axis Bank, Deutsche Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Standard Chartered Bank own 1-5% stakes under the ‘public’ category.
“Both NSE and IDBI Bank are looking to extinguish their full investments over a period of time as they want to focus more on their core businesses,” said an executive involved in the process.
Efforts were initially made to cut private equity deals, but those did not yield results, the people said.
NSDL and IDBI Bank did not reply to emails seeking comment. NSE declined to comment.
The company is estimated to be valued at Rs 3,500 crore, about 25% more than rival CDS, said market experts. NSDL held dematerialised securities valued at Rs 197.24 lakh crore as on January 31.
NSDL provides services to investors, stock brokers, stock exchanges, custodians and issuer companies through a network of more than 276 depository participants. It also drives investor awareness programmes, which are aimed at making investors aware of different aspects of investing.
