Investment banks in India: merchant bankers list

Where to find a list of merchant bankers in India

In India, an investment bank that manages share issues has to be registered with SEBI as a merchant banker. SEBI's website keeps the official list among its registered intermediaries: choose merchant bankers and you get each firm's name, its SEBI registration number (which starts with INM), its address and contact details, and how long the registration is valid. This is the list to use when a company needs a banker for an IPO, or when you want to confirm that a firm is registered.

The list mixes very different firms. The investment banking arms of large banks and broking groups sit beside small boutiques that handle a few SME issues a year. And not every investment banker is on it: firms that only advise on mergers, private fundraising or valuations do not need merchant banker registration, so many advisory boutiques are missing.

The official list is also built for checking, not for selling. It gives a compliance email and an office phone, not the managing director's mobile, and it says nothing about the size of deals a firm handles. Mumbai, around Nariman Point, Lower Parel and Bandra Kurla Complex, has the largest share of firms, with others in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad.

What investment banks and merchant bankers do

• Equity issues: IPOs on the main boards of BSE and NSE, where they act as book running lead managers, SME IPOs on BSE SME and NSE Emerge, rights issues and qualified institutions placements (QIPs).
• Takeovers and exits: open offers under SEBI's takeover rules, buybacks and delistings, each of which needs a merchant banker as manager.
• Mergers and acquisitions advice, private equity fundraising for companies, and debt syndication with banks and NBFCs.
• Valuations and fairness opinions. Valuations under the Companies Act need a registered valuer, registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), so many banks work alongside one.
• Underwriting and market making for SME issues. SME issues must be fully underwritten and need a market maker after listing, and the lead manager arranges both.

An IPO also brings in a crowd of other firms: legal counsel, the registrar to the issue, bankers to the issue, auditors who restate the accounts, a monitoring agency for larger issues, and advertising and investor relations agencies. Many of them are chosen on the merchant banker's advice, which is one reason merchant bankers are worth knowing.

Our investment banks and merchant bankers list

The Investment Banks & Merchant Bankers list has 708 firms in 19 cities. 86% have a mobile number, 73% an email address and 69% the name of a contact person. The biggest groups are in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad. It is short enough to work by hand: read each firm's website and recent deals before you call. Bankers move between firms, so confirm a firm's registration on SEBI's list before you rely on it, and check any contact before a deal depends on it.

Investment banks, funds and fund managers

Bankers, private equity and venture capital funds, and asset managers often meet on the same deals, and many sellers call all three:

• Investment Banks & Merchant Bankers 708 contacts · 73% email · 86% mobile ₹499
• Venture Capital & Private Equity Firms 141 contacts · 74% email · 78% mobile ₹499
• Asset Management Companies & Fund Managers 1,573 contacts · 74% email · 79% mobile ₹499

Who sells to investment banks

• Deal tools: virtual data rooms for due diligence, financial databases and market data, valuation models, and document management that keeps drafts of an offer document under control.
• Professional firms: law firms, CA firms for due diligence and restated accounts, registered valuers, and company secretaries who handle filings with the Registrar of Companies. Our chartered accountants list guide covers the audit side.
• Issue services: registrars, advertising agencies that place statutory issue advertisements, investor relations and media firms, and venues for roadshows and analyst meets.
• Compliance and security: SEBI expects regulated firms to meet its cyber security rules, so audit firms, security software and backup services sell here.
• Companies looking for a banker. Many people who search for a merchant bankers list are founders and CFOs of small and mid-sized companies planning an SME IPO or a fundraise.

How to approach a merchant banker

Deal teams are small, and their weeks are shaped by filings and issue dates. A short, specific approach works best:

1. Pick the right size of firm. A ₹25 crore SME issue will not interest a bank that handles large main-board IPOs, and a small boutique may not suit a large one. Look at the issues a firm has handled recently; offer documents and the exchanges' issue pages name the lead managers.
2. Lead with what matters to them. A company should give revenue, profit, sector and the size of the raise. A vendor should name the deal problem it solves. For example: "Good afternoon. I'm calling from a Mumbai firm that runs virtual data rooms for due diligence. On an SME issue you usually have five or six advisers reading the same documents; how do you share them today?"
3. Email senior bankers first, with a one-page summary, then call two days later. Our cold email templates have formats you can adapt.
4. Stay away from the days around an issue opening or a filing deadline, when the team will not take calls.
5. Expect confidentiality. Bankers hold unpublished price sensitive information, so expect an NDA before any real discussion, and never ask about live deals.

Sales calls fall under the DND rules like any other. To read a company's filings and directors before you call, see our CIN and DIN search guide.

Questions people ask

Is every investment bank in India registered with SEBI?

No. A firm needs merchant banker registration to manage public issues, open offers, buybacks and delistings. Firms that only advise on mergers, private fundraising or valuations can work without it, though many large ones hold it anyway.

What is the difference between an investment bank and a merchant banker?

In India the words overlap. "Merchant banker" is SEBI's legal category for firms that manage issues. "Investment bank" is the wider business, which can also include advisory, research, broking and institutional sales.

How do I find a merchant banker for an SME IPO?

Look at recent listings on BSE SME and NSE Emerge, note the lead managers of companies of your size and sector, and check their registration on SEBI's list. Speak to three or four, and compare their fees, the underwriting and market making they arrange, and how their past issues have traded after listing. Our private equity and VC guide covers the other route, raising money privately.

Can I get a list of investors from this list?

No. It is a list of firms and their offices. Starleads does not sell lists of individual investors.