NSE IPO: SGX, LSEG, ICE and CME Group - how NSE compares with global peers

NSE IPO: The Rs 22,569-crore NSE IPO, India's second-largest issue in history, received 28 per cent bids within the first few hours of Thursday's trading, as investors lapped up shares of India's largest exchange nwith both hands.

NSE is seeking a price-to-earnings (PE) multiple of 43 times its trailing earnings at the upper end of the IPO price band, the highest among listed global exchanges including Singapore Exchange (SGX), Nasdaq, Hong Kong Exchange, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), among others. A successful IPO listing would make NSE the world's seventh-most-valued exchange. Analysts find the asking valuations justified.

Against NSE's valuation ask, Bloomberg data showed Singapore Exchange commands a PE multiple of 34.3 times, London Stock Exchange (LSEG) 29.3 times, Nasdaq 26 times and Hong Kong Exchanges 25.2 times. Others including CME Group, ICE, Deutsche Boerse AG and Cboe Global Markets traded at 21-24 times.

NSE recorded one of the lowest non-volume-linked expense ratios, the highest adjusted operating Ebitda margin and one of the highest PAT margins among leading global stock exchange groups, MOFSL noted, citing the Redseer Report.

NSE runs one of the leanest cost bases among listed global exchanges, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said.

"NSE's non-volume-linked expenses were 22.73 per cent of revenue from operations in FY26 against 31.71 per cent for CME Group, 33.45 per cent for Nasdaq, and 52.06 per cent for LSEG," Nirmal Bang said.

Nirmal Bang said while NSE is frequently benchmarked against CME, ICE, Nasdaq and LSEG, the comparison needs qualification.

"NSE leads globally on contract volume and on operating margin. It also earns from a narrower revenue base, prices under a tighter regulatory ceiling, and operates in a market structure with no close overseas equivalent," Nirmal Bang said.

Besides, while global peers acquired their diversification, with LSEG paying $27 billion for Refinitiv and Nasdaq about $10.5 billion for Adenza, NSE diversified organically, analysts noted.

India, the fastest-growing G20 economy, is witnessing the largest middle-class expansion in modern history, second only to China. A larger share of incremental household financial savings is being allocated towards market-linked instruments, reflecting a structural shift from physical to financial assets. Turnover in India has historically grown faster than nominal GDP as market capitalisation and free float expand alongside it.

Data showed NSE had a global market share of 11.38 per cent in the number of trades in cash equities and 51.18 per cent in contracts traded in equity derivatives in FY26.

Brokerage firms including YES Securities, Choice Broking, Swastika Investmart, BP Equities, Sushil Finance, KC Securities, Angel One, SMIFS, Ventura Securities, Geojit Financial Services and Master Capital Services have suggested subscribing to the issue, while Chola Securities and Religare Broking have assigned a 'neutral' rating to it.

Global exchanges operate in developed and mature capital markets under different regulatory regimes and market structures. They also earn a materially larger share of their revenue from non-trading activities such as index licensing, data services and technology solutions, making their overall business models different from that of NSE.