BSE Ltd. intends to go public. BSE has started discussions with intermediaries to begin work on its listing, two people aware of the development said. "Earlier this month, the exchange invited three-four investment banks to initiate discussions on the IPO," said one of the two persons mentioned above, requesting anonymity.

"We are in the process of hiring one of them as the lead banker; they have been asked to pitch for the lead bank's position," the person added. The exchange will go ahead with the same set of bankers, the person cited above said, adding that it has also started reaching out to other intermediaries such as legal advisers to begin work on the listing. "We believe the new regulations announced recently by SEBI will enable listing of exchanges.

BSE plans to apply to SEBI again for in-principle approval soon," the exchange said in an emailed response. "The IPO will be an offer for sale for existing investors to sell their stake, as they have been invested for over five years now. The exchange per se does not need too much cash to invest in its businesses.

However, these are very early days of discussions and decisions are yet to be taken on how much stake is to be diluted, the timelines for the issuance, which investors would want to sell their stake in the IPO, etc.," said the second person cited above. He also requested anonymity.