The world’s busiest derivatives exchange just filed to go public, and the biggest winners aren’t exactly scraping by. India’s National Stock Exchange filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, setting the stage for an IPO that could raise approximately ₹29,780 crore, or roughly $3.5B.
Here’s the thing: the exchange itself won’t see a single rupee of fresh capital. The entire offering is structured as an offer-for-sale, meaning existing shareholders are cashing out. The top ten selling investors stand to gain about $2.6B in aggregate, based on their original acquisition costs.
Who’s getting paid
The list of beneficiaries reads like a who’s who of Indian finance. State Bank of India, the country’s largest public sector bank, could book gains of roughly $498M from the sale. Billionaires Azim Premji and Radhakishan Damani, whose holdings could be worth over $1B at the exchange’s current unlisted valuation of around $53B, are among the prominent sellers.
Life Insurance Corporation of India holds the largest stake at approximately 10.7% but is notably sitting this one out. LIC is not participating in the sale, suggesting India’s biggest institutional investor sees more upside ahead.
