Extending relief to the National Securities Depository Ltd. or the NSDL, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has allowed time till the end of July to the depository to launch its highly anticipated IPO worth Rs 3,000 crore, NDTV Profit has learned from people in the know.
This development comes as the market regulator granted extension to NSDL in a letter dated March 28, subject to some conditions. This becomes crucial as SEBI's approval timeline for the depository's IPO launch was supposed to lapse this month.
It was previously reported that the NSDL will have to launch its initial public offering by April due to time constraints, amid the ongoing phase of market correction. However, the regulator's extension to the in- principle approval helps the depository with more time to launch its IPO during a more favourable period.
Notably, SEBI had approved NSDL's IPO in October. The Mumbai-based securities depository's offering will only include an offer for sale.
NSDL had filed the draft red herring prospectus for the IPO with the regulator in July 2023. It plans to sell up to 5.72 crore equity shares with a face value of Rs 2 each, according to the draft red herring prospectus.
ICICI Securities Ltd. is the lead book-running manager for the IPO, along with Axis Capital Ltd., SBI Capital Markets Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd., Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Ltd., and IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Ltd.
As a market infrastructure institution, NSDL requires additional approvals apart from the clearance to its DRHP before launching the IPO.
NSDL's competitor, Central Depository Services Ltd., went public in 2017 and had a market capitalisation of Rs 26,109.3 crore as of Thursday's close.
NSDL is India's largest depository, measured by multiple parameters, including the number of issuers, active instruments, market share in demat settlement volume, and the value of assets under custody, as of March 31, 2023.
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