Mumbai: The process for the much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has started moving faster. According to a report by Moneycontrol, the exchange has shortlisted around 20–21 investment banks to manage its planned mega IPO.
Sources cited in the report said that some of the shortlisted institutions include Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citi, JM Financial, JP Morgan, HSBC Securities and Morgan Stanley. These banks may play an important role in helping NSE bring its shares to the public market.
Apart from investment banks, the exchange has also shortlisted about 7 to 9 law firms for the IPO process. An official announcement regarding these appointments is expected soon.
Rothschild Appointed as Independent Advisor
To supervise and guide the IPO process, NSE’s IPO committee has selected Rothschild as an independent advisor.
Earlier, the exchange had held discussions with several agencies based on their technical and commercial proposals before finalising the advisor.
According to NSE’s statement, Rothschild will help ensure that the IPO process follows a transparent and well-governed structure. The advisor will lead the selection process for book running lead managers (BRLMs), legal advisors and other intermediaries involved in the IPO.
Rothschild will also prepare a fair evaluation framework and define clear selection criteria for the institutions participating in the process.
Responsibilities in the Selection Process
The independent advisor will manage several key steps involved in the IPO preparation.
These responsibilities include handling documentation, clarifications, coordination between different parties and collecting feedback from internal stakeholders.
The advisor will also ensure equal access to information for all participating firms, regular communication between stakeholders and proper documentation of decisions taken during the process.
This structure is expected to make the selection process more transparent and organised.
IPO to Be Launched Through Offer for Sale
The NSE board approved the IPO plan during its meeting on February 6. It was decided that the issue will be launched through an Offer for Sale (OFS).
In an OFS structure, existing shareholders sell part of their holdings instead of the company issuing fresh shares.
Some of NSE’s major institutional shareholders include Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), State Bank of India (SBI) and Singapore-based Temasek.
The exchange, led by Managing Director and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan, has also strengthened its governance structure by reorganising a dedicated IPO committee after the board meeting.
NSE’s Journey Since 1992
The National Stock Exchange was established in 1992 and started operations in 1994 as India’s first electronic stock exchange.
Over the years, NSE has grown into one of the country’s most important financial market institutions. It provides high-speed, technology-driven trading platforms across multiple asset classes including equities, debt, commodities, currencies, derivatives and exchange traded funds (ETFs).
After more than three decades since its establishment, the exchange is now preparing for its long-awaited public listing.
