HDFC Bank plans to participate in the initial public offering (IPO) of National Securities Depository (NSDL), it has said in stock exchange filing. The bank seeks to offload a 2% stake in the depository, amounting to four million equity shares, via the offer for sale (OFS) route. It holds an 8.95% stake in NSDL.
“This is in addition to the past divestment of 1% stake in NSDL via definitive agreements dated December 2, 2022,” the bank added in the filing.
The lender had offloaded the 1% stake for a cash consideration of Rs 110 crore, it said, adding that the current proposal to sell 2% and the previous 1% divestment did not constitute a related-party transaction.
NSDL regulates and manages the business of providing depository and clearing and settlement services in respect of securities and instruments of all kinds.
The depository on Saturday filed a draft red herring prospectus with the markets regulator for an IPO, offering up to 57,260,001 shares via the OFS route. IDBI Bank, NSE, Union Bank of India, and State Bank of India are shareholders set to sell shares in the IPO, besides the administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).
The DRHP states that NSDL is the largest depository in the country as of March 31, based on the number of issuers, number of active instruments, market share in demat value of settlement volume, and value of assets held under custody.
ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), IDBI Capital Markets and Securities, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, and SBI Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers to the issue.