NSE IPO Day 1: Issue subscribed 42%; NII portion gets 70% bids

The initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) was subscribed 42% on the first day of bidding on Thursday, with non-institutional investors (NIIs) leading the subscription across investor categories.

According to exchange data, the NSE IPO received bids for 3.70 crore shares against 8.86 crore shares on offer, translating into an overall subscription of 0.42 times as of 5:08 pm on September 17.

The NII portion was subscribed 70%, with investors bidding for 1.32 crore shares against 1.89 crore shares reserved for the category.

Within the NII segment, the portion reserved for investors bidding more than ₹10 lakh was subscribed 59%, while the segment for bids between ₹2 lakh and ₹10 lakh was subscribed 91%.

The retail individual investor (RII) portion was subscribed 42%, with bids received for 1.87 crore shares against 4.41 crore shares reserved for the category.

The qualified institutional buyer (QIB) portion saw comparatively lower demand on the first day, with the category subscribed 19%. QIBs bid for 47.28 lakh shares against 2.52 crore shares on offer.

Among QIBs, mutual funds accounted for the largest share of bids at 28.03 lakh shares, followed by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), which bid for 18.74 lakh shares.

The employee reservation portion was subscribed 94%, with bids for 4.06 lakh shares against 4.33 lakh shares reserved for employees.

Raises ₹6,746 crore from anchor investors

Ahead of the IPO, NSE raised ₹6,746.18 crore from anchor investors, with demand for the shares touching nearly ₹1.2 lakh crore, or around 20 times the size of the anchor book.

NSE allotted 3.78 crore equity shares to anchor investors at ₹1,785 apiece, with more than 150 investors participating in the anchor book. The allocation saw strong interest from both foreign and domestic institutional investors.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) accounted for ₹2,883 crore, or 43% of the total anchor allocation. More than 20 foreign long-only funds participated in the book, with investors from the US, Europe and Asia spanning sovereign wealth funds, global mutual funds and other institutional categories.

The anchor allocation included sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore's GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Norges Bank, along with global asset managers including Fidelity, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Eastspring Investments and HSBC Global Asset Management.

Domestic institutional participation was also broad-based, with more than 25 large domestic mutual funds and 11 insurance and pension funds investing around ₹3,588 crore, accounting for 53% of the anchor book.

The NSE IPO, which opened for subscription on September 17, will remain open until September 21. The issue comprises an offer for sale (OFS) of 12.64 crore shares by existing shareholders, with no fresh issue of shares.

The price band for the IPO has been fixed at ₹1,700-1,785 per share. At the upper end of the price band, the IPO values NSE at around ₹4.42 lakh crore.