The newly filed Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) confirms that veteran value investor and DMart founder Radhakishan Damani holds a prominent 1.58% stake in the country’s largest bourse.

Damani’s holding encompasses 3,90,84,400 equity shares (39.08 million shares). Based on the exchange’s recent trading prices in the unlisted gray market, the paper value of this investment translates to approximately ₹7,817 crore to ₹8,032 crore.

The Ultimate “Hold”: Sitting Out India’s Biggest IPO

The revelation has drawn sharp attention because Damani, alongside other high-profile domestic stock pickers like Raamdeo Agrawal and Dolly Khanna, is opting to completely sit out the upcoming IPO.

The blockbuster ₹30,000 crore public issue is structured strictly as a 100% Offer for Sale (OFS) by existing institutional legacy investors—meaning the exchange itself is not raising new capital. While public sector heavyweights like SBI, LIC, and foreign funds are liquidating a combined ~6% stake to facilitate the public listing, Damani is maintaining his position in its entirety. This makes his holding the single largest individual investor block that will remain locked in post-IPO.

Impeccable Timing: The Norwest Secondary Exit

The current multi-billion-dollar valuation highlights Damani’s legendary reputation for long-term value investing.

• The Entry Window: Damani quietly built the position during the January–March quarter of 2020. He picked up the shares via a private secondary deal from foreign venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners.
• The Opportunity: At the time, Norwest was looking to liquidate its position as regulatory scrutiny over the NSE’s co-location and dark-fibre legacy cases began stalling the exchange’s original IPO plans. Damani stepped in as a liquidity backer when market sentiment on the exchange was at a low point.
• The Bonus Multiplier: The sheer volume of his share count was further amplified by the massive 4:1 bonus share issue approved by the NSE board in 2024, which multiplied his initial share count without diluting his overall ownership percentage.

Portfolio Standing: Damani’s #2 Wealth Driver

The impending public listing officially solidifies the NSE position as the absolute crown jewel of Damani’s investment portfolio outside of his main business operations.

While his massive promoter holding in Avenue Supermarts (DMart) remains his flagship wealth vector at over ₹1.9 lakh crore, his NSE asset has comfortably outgrown all of his other historic listed corporate investments. To put the scale of the ₹7,817 crore asset into perspective, it eclipses his high-profile public equity stakes in lifestyle retailer Trent (~₹2,780 crore) and cigarette major VST Industries (~₹1,283 crore) combined.

Beyond sheer capital appreciation, the position has functioned as a highly lucrative cash cow. Thanks to the NSE’s dominant monopoly over India’s high-volume derivatives and equity cash markets, the exchange has passed down consistent high-tier dividend payouts—netting Damani an estimated ₹320+ crore in pure dividend inflows over the course of his 6-year holding period.