Mumbai, March 9 The National Stock Exchange is likely to appoint merchant bankers for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) in March, its Managing Director and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said.
"The process of selecting the merchant bankers is still underway. It should be completed by March," Chauhan told reporters on the sidelines of the National Stock Exchange of India's (NSE) celebration of 30 years of NIFTY 50.
According to Chauhan, the valuation and final size of the IPO will be determined only after the merchant bankers are appointed and the formal process begins.
"The valuation is usually determined by the merchant bankers. They have not yet been appointed. So, I don't know what the final amounts will be," he said.
On regulatory aspects, Chauhan said Sebi rules allowing exchanges to go public with a lower public float would not materially affect the timeline.
"Sebi regulations have allowed companies like NSE to go public with a smaller float because we don't have a single identifiable promoter," he said.
Unlike many listed companies, no single entity holds a controlling stake in NSE that can be classified as a promoter, he added.
While Chauhan did not specify a launch timeline, he indicated that the exchange hopes the IPO could reach the market by the fourth quarter of the next financial year.