BoB looks to sell NSE stake, sets floor price at Rs 900 per share

Bank of Baroda (BoB) said it is planning to sell its 0.89% stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE). It has set a floor price of Rs 900 per share for the sale to prospective buyers through a bidding process. At this price, the bank could garner at least Rs 395 crore from the sale. “Bank of Baroda (BoB) intends to sell its part or full stake in NSE up to the extent of 43,94,500 equity shares, of face value Rs 1 each by way of sale through competitive bidding process to bidders to be submitted by Sebi-approved Category I Merchant Banker on net price basis or quoted share price less fee of bidder,” the lender said in an advertisement. The bank said that through the request for bids (RFB), it requests merchant bankers to arrange investors for the purchase of up to 43.94 lakh equity shares of NSE, held by Bank of Baroda. Merchant bankers will be responsible for facilitating and managing the entire transaction till its successful completion.

Other public sector banks have also been looking to sell their non-core assets in order to raise capital. In fact, several have been looking to cash in on the value of their stakes on the country’s premier stock exchange. For instance, in November last year, IDBI Bank had said it wanted to sell a 1.5% stake in NSE. In a filing to the stock exchanges, IDBI Bank had said that its board, granted in-principle approval to divest 74,15,680 equity shares, amounting to a 1.5% stake in NSE. In March 2016, IDBI Bank had sold a 2% stake in NSE to LIC and in July 2016 State Bank of India (SBI) had sold a 5% stake in NSE to Mauritius-based foreign investor Veracity Investments for Rs 911 crore.

NSE was hoping to tap the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) last year, but it had to defer the proposal after the markets regulator initiated a probe into algorithmic trading manipulation at the exchange. The offer was expected to provide an exit to many investors. With the IPO likely to get pushed well into the next fiscal, several investors have been looking to liquidate their holdings to investors before the offer finally hits the market. At the indicated floor price, NSE’s implied equity capitalisation is estimated at Rs 44,382 crore. This is a significant premium to the value realised by SBI through its stake sale.