- Many retail investors bought NSDL shares at Rs 1,250 in the unlisted market—only to see the IPO priced at Rs 800. It’s not the first time. It won’t be the last
- Lower entry barriers and easy platforms have opened the floodgates to retail investors. But many are buying at inflated prices, just as big investors are looking to sell
- With no regulator, no exchange, and varying price tags, the unlisted market is a free-for-all. And when things go wrong? Investors are on their own
- Sebi knows the risks. A PIL has already warned of a confidence crisis. But so far, the only move it has made is to say: caveat emptor
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In late July, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), which keeps India’s stock holdings safe and digital, raised Rs 4,000 crore in an uneventful IPO. Priced at Rs 800 per share, the offering’s valuation came in below its listed peer, Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL). Investors will find out in August whether the stock makes them money. Some already know it won’t.
Because Rs 800 was a discount—35% off—on what many retail investors paid for NSDL shares just weeks earlier. In the unlisted market. “Many investors bought at those levels,” confirmed Umesh Paliwal of Unlisted Zone, a platform for trading unlisted stocks. A share that sold for less than Rs 700 a couple of years ago had, briefly, turned into a Rs 1,250 pre-IPO hope trade.
NSDL is not an anomaly. From non-bank HDB Financial Services in June to the tech-services firm Tata Technologies in late 2023, many companies have priced their IPOs well below the highs reached in the unlisted market. Worse, their shares continue to trade below those euphoric peaks.
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What began as a way for sophisticated investors to gain early access to private companies has, over time, become something else: a trap.
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