(June 19): Some of India’s wealthiest investors stand to get even richer from their shareholdings in the nation’s stock exchange, which filed for an initial public offering (IPO) this week.
Billionaires Azim Premji and Radhakishan Damani are among the biggest holders in the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. While neither has indicated that they will sell their shares, the values of their stakes stand to be worth in the hundreds of millions, with Premji’s set to exceed US$1 billion ($1.29 billion).
NSE is valued at more than five trillion rupees (US$53 billion or $68 billion) in the unlisted market, which translates to a listing price of around 2,020 rupees per share. A date for the long-awaited IPO, which could be India’s largest ever, hasn’t been announced.
The bourse operator is one of the oldest private equity trades in India. Investment in the exchange has been hugely successful for its early backers, who have received millions of bonus issues over the years. NSE’s value soared over the past decade with India’s capital markets expanding and retail participation surging.
“Few institutions in Indian finance have compounded as quietly and as relentlessly as the National Stock Exchange,” said Nimish Maheshwari, co-founder of independent research firm Beat The Street. “The next stage of value creation will depend on how effectively it broadens revenue beyond pure volume-led trading.”
Premji’s investment fund first bought a 3% stake in 2008 for US$100 million. It’s now the largest family office investor with around 58.2 million shares, worth about US$1.2 billion if the listing is successful. The information technology mogul, who founded Wipro Ltd, has a net worth of US$20.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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Damani, founder and chairman of Avenue Supermarts Ltd, holds 39 million shares in NSE that could be worth around US$835 million. He has a net worth of US$17.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Some institutions stand to cash in on the IPO by selling their stakes. State Bank of India, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd and Morgan Stanley are among those set to exit. It will also give a bonanza for retail investors — the 190,000 individuals and diaspora Indians who bought shares in the grey market in recent years.
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Among other rich investors likely to see valuation gains are Sunil Kant Munjal, the founder of automotive and finance conglomerate Hero Group, who bought more than 1.2 million shares back in 2018 for around one billion rupees. He received over 8.16 million bonus shares in 2024, according to exchange disclosures. Now with more than 10.2 million shares, Munjal’s stake could be worth around US$218 million.
Other major shareholders include the family office of Infosys Ltd co-founder Narayana Murthy, fellow co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Hexaware Technologies Ltd chairman Atul Nishar, and the founding family of US$10 billion snack maker Haldiram.
Some of India’s leading financiers also own shares, including Raamdeo Agrawal and Motilal Oswal of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, IIFL Group founders Nirmal Jain and R Venkataraman, and 360 One WAM Ltd chief executive officer Karan Bhagat.
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