Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's largest insurer, has emerged as the biggest institutional bidder in the initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Reports indicate that LIC placed bids totaling approximately Rs 4,500 crore (equivalent to $470 million), underscoring robust demand from domestic long-term financial institutions.
This substantial participation from LIC, alongside other major players, highlights a clear divergence in investor interest. While large institutional investors demonstrated strong confidence in NSE's future growth, retail participants showed a more cautious approach. Other significant institutional bidders included ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. and Quant Mutual Fund, each depositing bids around Rs 2,000 crore ($209 million), while Norges Bank Investment Management and Mirae Asset Mutual Fund placed bids worth Rs 1,000 crore each.
The subscription data for the NSE IPO revealed that the qualified institutional buyer (QIB) category was oversubscribed by nearly 12.7 times. In contrast, the portion reserved for retail investors saw a subscription rate of approximately 1.3 times. This strong institutional interest persisted despite some market concerns regarding a potential slowdown in derivatives trading and NSE's valuation compared to global exchange operators.
Overall, the $2.4-billion IPO garnered bids for about 5.7 times the shares on offer. Ahead of the public issue, which commenced on September 16, NSE successfully raised Rs 6,746.18 crore from 189 anchor investors at Rs 1,785 per share. LIC was also the largest anchor investor in this round, purchasing shares worth Rs 400 crore, accounting for 5.93% of the anchor book. Other prominent anchor investors included the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Norway's Government Pension Fund, and asset manager Fidelity.
The offer price for the recently concluded IPO was fixed at Rs 1,785 per share. The three-day IPO concluded on September 21, with the offer for sale (OFS) commencing on September 17. Investors can check the status of their share allotments on the websites of the registrar, NSE, or BSE, with allotments being processed today, September 22, 2026. The IPO, which offered shares in a price band of Rs 1,700-1,785 per share with a minimum lot size of eight equity shares, successfully raised Rs 22,562 crore from investors, attracting over 38.4 lakh applications and bids exceeding Rs 90,300 crore.