Radhakishan Damani buys stake in NSE

Mumbai: Radhakishan Damani, billionaire investor and founder of DMart supermarkets, has picked up a stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country's biggest bourse.

According to the latest shareholding data filed by NSE, Damani has bought 7.8 million shares of NSE, which constitutes a 1.58% stake in the exchange. The value of the stake could be anywhere between ₹650 and ₹800 crore, industry estimates suggest. The investment has been done in his personal capacity and Damani is currently the biggest non-institutional shareholder in the exchange, data showed.

The development comes at a time when the stock exchange is looking to revive its IPO plans, a move that could increase the value of Damani’s holding further due to premium on the shares. NSE is eyeing a valuation of around ₹45,000 crore, say bankers.

Through the purchase, Damani joins the list of over 40 institutions and 200 plus individual shareholders of NSE. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is currently the largest shareholder in the NSE with a 12.5% stake. India’s largest public-sector lender State Bank of India along with private lenders such as ICICI Bank and HDFC are among the other marquee shareholders of NSE. Even leading foreign funds such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have investments, shareholding data showed.

Damani is well known for picking up large stakes in companies and holding them for long periods. Through various entities, he owns a 74.9% stake in Avenue Supermarts, which operates DMart. He also owns 20.4% stake in India Cements, 26% in VST Industries and 4.4% in Blue Dart. This year, apart from NSE, Radhakishan Damani has picked up a 2.1% stake in Spencer Retail.