NSE floats RFP, invites i-banks and law firms for IPO pitches
“The selection process for advisors has kickstarted and NSE has reached out to around 20 investment banks and around 10 law firms. Information on aspects like track record and team details have been sought from all the advisory firms by Friday,” one of the persons above told Moneycontrol.
Two other persons confirmed the above.
According to a fourth person, “Detailed presentations will follow in the coming weeks and the final syndicate of investment banks and legal counsels is likely to be firmed up by mid-March.”
All the four persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.
When contacted via an email query, NSE said “Pursuant to the NOC issued by SEBI, the board approved an initial public offering of the Company through an offer for sale on February 6, 2026. No further comments at this stage”.
The firm’s IPO Committee has selected Rothschild as an independent advisor to oversee the IPO process, after meeting various agencies based on technical and commercial proposals, NSE told Moneycontrol in an earlier statement.
The NSE statement on Rothschild added, “The summary of scope of work is as follows: The advisor will lead a transparent, governance‑driven process to select BRLMs, Legal Counsels, and other intermediaries for NSE’s IPO. Responsibilities include developing an objective evaluation framework, defining clear selection criteria, and managing all stages of the selection process—from documentation and clarifications to back‑off coordination and consolidation of evaluation feedback of internal stakeholders. The role also ensures information parity, consistent stakeholder communication, and comprehensive documentation of decisions.”
Post the NSE board meeting held on February 6, the nod was given for the IPO via an offer for sale by existing shareholders. LIC, SBI and Singapore’s Temasek are among some of the firm’s institutional shareholders.
NSE, which is led by MD & CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan, also strengthened its IPO governance framework by reconstituting a dedicated IPO Committee post the board meeting.
The composition of the re-constituted IPO Committee is as follows: Tablesh Pandey – Chairperson (Non-Independent Director), Srinivas Injeti – Member (Public Interest Director), Prof (Dr.) Mamata Biswal – Member (Public Interest Director), Justice (Retd.) Smt. Abhilasha Kumari – Member (Public Interest Director), Prof. G. Sivakumar – Member (Public Interest Director) and Ashishkumar Chauhan – Member (Managing Director & CEO)
Meanwhile, listed peer BSE, which made its market debut in 2017, has seen its share price surge by more than 62% in the last year and the firm has a market cap of around Rs 1.14 lakh crore.
A closer look at NSE
NSE was established in 1992 and started operations in 1994 as India’s first electronic stock exchange. It provides a high-speed, technology-led platform across asset classes like equities, debt, commodities, currencies and their derivatives, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
As per the bourses annual report for 2025, it had 11.3 crore unique registered investors ( up by 23% y-o-y) and around 22 crore investor accounts, with 2,720 companies listed on its platform. In terms of consolidated financials, the total revenues stood at Rs 19,177 crore ( up 17% y-o-y), and profit after tax was Rs 12,188 crore ( up 47% y-o-y).
“FY24–25 marked a historic high in India’s capital market journey, with NSE playing a pivotal role in enabling enterprise and empowering entrepreneurship across the issuer spectrum. NSE facilitated a record 18.7 lakh crore ($219 billion) in capital mobilisation, comprising 14.2 lakh crore ($166 billion) in the debt segment—a 24% year-on-year growth—and 4.26 lakh crore ($50 billion) in the equity segment,” the bourse’s head Ashish Kumar Chauhan said in the 2025 annual report.
