NSE seeks advisers for public listing
The Nigerian Stock Exchange plans to appoint financial advisers to guide it through the process of becoming a publicly listed company, it said on Tuesday.
The NSE is the second-biggest bourse in sub-Saharan Africa after Johannesburg, which has been a listed company since 2006, according to a report by Reuters.
The Exchange is currently owned by stockbrokers and some institutional investors and has around 200 listed companies, all included in its benchmark share index.
It said it had won approval from its board to appoint advisers for the listing, which analysts say will help improve transparency, product development and deepen the market, leading to more inflows from foreign investors.
The exchange said in a notice that it wanted joint bids by one foreign and one Nigerian adviser where at least one of the parties had participated in the listing of a stock exchange.
Bids were expected by 1500 GMT on March 31.
[Punch]