Balmer Lawrie expands internal operations in railway logistics and third-party logistics services

Ambassadors of European Union countries reached an agreement on Monday to lift sanctions imposed in connection with the situation in Ukraine against entrepreneurs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. This decision is possible provided that no government of the community raises objections within the coming hours.

According to information provided by Reuters, the agreement reached between representatives of 27 EU countries is part of a broader package deal. This deal provides for the extension of sanctions against thousands of other Russian individuals and legal entities for a period of three years, which significantly exceeds the standard extension periods of six or twelve months.

EU Countries Joining the Exclusion of Usmanov

Despite surprise and dissatisfaction from some EU states, France joined Slovakia this month in seeking the exclusion of Russian and Uzbek billionaire Usmanov from the sanctions list. Following this, Luxembourg demanded the exclusion of Mikhail Fridman.

France called on the European Union to lift sanctions against Usmanov. This step was taken after France faced pressure from Azerbaijan, which detained at least two French citizens last week. Three European diplomats told Reuters that a high-ranking Azerbaijani official denied these claims on Friday.

France has not officially confirmed that it is seeking the lifting of EU sanctions against Usmanov, which include a travel ban within the bloc and asset freezing. The European Union imposed restrictions on both businessmen in 2022, justifying the restrictions against Usmanov due to his 'particularly close ties' with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Situation with Fridman and Luxembourg

As for Fridman, he is filing a lawsuit for $16 billion in arbitration proceedings. EU diplomats clarified that Luxembourg believed its position regarding maintaining sanctions against Fridman could be weakened if Usmanov were excluded from the lists alone.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was subscribed by a total of 5.71 times as of Monday, the last trading day. According to BSE data, 88.6 million shares were offered for sale from a total offering of nearly ₹22,560 crore, receiving applications for 505.8 million shares.

Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) were the main driver of demand, subscribing 12.68 times their reserved portion of 25.2 million shares, receiving applications for almost 320 million shares. Within this category, foreign institutional investors requested 140.3 million shares, domestic financial institutions, including banks and insurance companies, requested 68 million shares, and mutual funds requested 54.1 million shares.

Non-institutional investors also showed significant interest, subscribing 6.55 times their reserved quota of 18.9 million shares, amounting to applications for 123.8 million shares. Applications from individuals investing over ₹10 lakh were subscribed 7.78 times, while smaller non-institutional applications in the range of ₹2 to ₹10 lakh received a subscription of 4.09 times.

Retail individual investors, whose category has shown significantly lower subscription for a long time, ultimately applied for 61.3 million shares against a reserved quota of 44.1 million shares, equivalent to a 1.39 times subscription. This marked a noticeable improvement compared to the sluggish demand at the beginning of the application period.

Market observers noted that a moderate premium in the 'grey market' also influenced retail investor subscriptions. According to websites tracking 'grey market' activity, the premium on NSE shares decreased to approximately 2 percent from a peak of 20 percent before the IPO.

The portion reserved for employees was subscribed 2.4 times, with applications received for 1.03 million shares against a reserve of 433,000 shares. The country's largest exchange attracted ₹6,746 crore from nearly 189 anchor investors. Key participants included Life Insurance Corporation of India, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Societe Generale, as well as several other insurance companies and mutual funds.

Most brokerage reports recommended subscribing to the offering from a medium-term and long-term perspective. Mirae Asset Sharekhan noted that NSE offers an attractive valuation, as its Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio for 2025–26 is 42.9 times, which is a noticeable discount compared to competitors like BSE, supported by a robust return on equity of 32.1 percent. NSE's strong position is driven by technology monetization, the expansion of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, and high base margins, allowing it to capitalize on the long-term growth of the Indian capital market.

However, many cited the slowdown in options volumes as a short-term problem for the exchange. Nirmal Bang suggested that competitive shifts could negatively affect NSE's transaction revenue growth. Nevertheless, the broker maintained a positive long-term outlook for the exchange. Choice emphasized that this price provides access to irreplaceable market infrastructure, as NSE manages the exchange, trade clearing, owns the Nifty indices, and sells data, generating revenue multiple times from a single transaction, while the new product costs almost nothing to add. Since 2023–24, more than nine-tenths of the money market turnover and almost all stock futures have passed through NSE, and none of these segments have been seriously questioned.