NSE ropes in Citigroup, Morgan Stanley to handle IPO

Moving closer to list its shares, leading stock exchange NSE today said it has roped in four merchant bankers, including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, to manage its upcoming initial public offering.
The other joint global co-ordinators are JM Financial Institutional Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.
Besides, the exchange has engaged Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the legal advisor.
With these steps, NSE expects the listing process to gain further momentum. It may consider appointment of more banks for additional roles.
"The board of NSE at its meeting held on August 22, 2016, decided to engage the four Joint Global Co-ordinators -- Citigroup Global Markets India Private Ltd, JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd and Morgan Stanley India Company Private Ltd," NSE said.

NSE, which plans to get listed in India as well as abroad, said it is committed to do so at the earliest. It will file draft IPO papers with markets regulator Sebi for the domestic public issue by January 2017 while it will file for overseas listing by April next year.

The exchange has been facing intense pressure from its shareholders to go public and had formed a listing committee to expedite the process and seek support for self-listing. The exchange has reportedly approached the government and Sebi to bring in norms for self-listing.
Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) do not provide for self-listing of a stock exchange and the market watchdog has so far said no to considering the matter.

Meanwhile, NSE is also looking at restructuring its business by which it plans to create a separate entity for non-regulated portfolio.
The international listing is expected to give NSE visibility on the global platform and bring in transparency to the exchange's valuation.
The exchange's closest competitor, BSE, has already begun its IPO process after receiving in-principle approval from Sebi earlier this year and is likely to file papers soon.
"The board also approved appointment of Price Waterhouse & Co, Chartered Accountants LLP as joint statutory auditors for 2016-17 along with the current statutory auditors and as sole statutory auditors for the financial years 2017-21, subject to the approval and ratification of shareholders," NSE said today.

The exchange has been pitching hard for either self-listing or direct supervision by Sebi and not by a rival exchange.