Sebi puts NSDL's IPO in abeyance

Capital markets regulator Sebi has kept in 'abeyance' the proposed initial share sale of securities depository NSDL.

However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) did not clarify further.

The National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) filed its preliminary papers with the capital markets regulator on July 7.

Going by the draft papers, NSDL's proposed initial public offering (IPO) is a complete offer-for-sale (OFS) of more than 5.72 crore equity shares by existing shareholders.

Under the OFS, IDBI Bank plans to offload 2.22 crore shares, National Stock Exchange (NSE) 1.80 crore shares, Union Bank of India 56.25 lakh shares, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank will offload 40 lakh shares each.

Also, Administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) will sell 34.15 lakh shares of the Mumbai-based depository.

IDBI Bank and National Stock Exchange (NSE) held 26.10 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, of the share capital of NSDL.

A certain portion of the issue will be reserved for eligible employees as well and the company may offer a discount to them on the IPO price.

Shares of the company are proposed to be listed on the BSE, as per the draft papers.

As of financial year 2023, NSDL's revenue stood at Rs 1,099.81 crore and its net profit was Rs 234.81 crore, which was higher than that in the previous fiscal.

Without disclosing the reason, Sebi said "issuance of observations (has been) kept in abeyance" with regard to the IPO of NSDL, an updated showed on the regulator's website on Thursday.

NSDL is a Sebi-registered market infrastructure institution offering a wide range of products and services to the financial and securities markets in India.

Following the introduction of the Depositories Act in 1996, NSDL pioneered the dematerialisation of securities in India in November 1996.

As of March 31, 2023, NSDL is the largest depository in India in terms of number of issuers, active instruments, market share in demat value of settlement volume and value of assets held under custody.