Why you can’t find CAMS share price on NSE; why CAMS is a BSE-only listing

Computer Age Management Services, the mutual fund registrar and transfer agency (RTA) services provider, made its stock market debut today, gaining 23% on listing. Market participants were scrambling to track the stock and its movement on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), but could not find it there, as the scrip listed only on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and not on NSE. The reason behind this lies in the fact that a subsidiary of the exchange, NSE Investments, was a shareholder in Computer Age Management Services (CAMS). The entire purpose of the issue was for NSE Investments to sell its stake to abide by SEBI guidelines.

CAMS’ Rs 2,244 crore IPO did not include a fresh issue but only an offer for sale (OFS) from existing shareholder — NSE Investments. The subsidiary of the exchange sold its 37.4% stake in the company or 18.2 million shares. The strategic investment arm of the NSE had picked up a stake in the Mutual Fund industry service provider in 2014. According to reports, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) directed NSE earlier this year to sell its stake in CAMS. By SEBI Guidelines, stock exchanges can not list themselves and their subsidiaries.

The issue did not include a fresh issue of equity shares but, the promoter of CAMS, Great Terrain (an affiliate of Warburg Pincus), did sell 12.6% of its stake in a pre-IPO deal. This deal saw Great Terrain sell a part of its stake to SBI MF, ICICI Pru MF, HDFC MF, SBI Life, IIFL AIF, Acacia Partners, Ashoka Trust, Edelweiss AIF at a price of Rs 1,230 per share.

CAMS provides RTA services to 16 of the top 41 mutual fund houses in India translating to a 70% share in the business which has KFin Tech as the only other major player. CAMS has an Average Asset Under Management (AAUM) of Rs 17.4 trillion at the end of the first quarter of this fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year CAMS generated Rs 699 crore from operations.