SEBI puts Rs 3,000 crore NSDL IPO under 'abeyance'

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has put the Rs 3,000 crore IPO of the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) under 'abeyance' in the wake of a pending probe against the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

NSE is a majority shareholder in NDSL, which is the largest depository in India. The other largest shareholder is IDBI Bank. NSE and IDBI Bank together own over 50 per cent shares in NDSL.

Although the SEBI rulebook prescribes an abeyance period of 90 days, according to CNBC-TV18 , NDSL is likely to request the market regulator to bring this down to 45 days.

The expected IPO is an offer for sale (OFS) of as many as 57,260,001 equity shares by the current shareholders. According to media reports, the OFS consists of 22,220,000 shares by IDBI Bank, 18,000,001 equity shares by NSE, 4,000,000 shares by SBI, 5,625,000 shares by Union Bank of India and 3,415,000 shares by Administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).

One of the largest securities depositories in the world, NSDL handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialised form in the Indian markets. It offers a wide range of services to investors, stock brokers, custodians, and issuer companies.