ANANTAM

By Vibhuti Sharma and Aditya Kalra

MUMBAI Oct 29 (Reuters) - KKR-backed Vertis Infrastructure Trust in India has selected Axis Capital and two other investment banks to manage its up to $568 million Indian initial public offering, investment banking sources said.

They said the company planned to seek regulatory approval for the offering before December.

A planned IPO for Vertis comes as Indian markets are trading near record highs. Companies have raised $16 billion so far this year via India's public markets, making it the world's third-largest market for debuts, according to Dealogic.

Vertis Infrastructure Trust, which is also backed by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, is a so-called InvIT, or an infrastructure investment trust. These are schemes that allow investors to pool funds into income-generating infrastructure projects.

Vertis' plans to raise up to $568 million via an IPO have been previously reported. But three sources familiar with Vertis' plans told Reuters it is planning to file papers seeking regulatory clearance within weeks, before the end of December.

The sources added that India's Axis Capital, Ambit Capital and Avendus Capital were the three bankers appointed for the deal.

Vertis and the investment banks did not respond to requests for comment.

The company's current target for listing is the second quarter of 2026, one of the banker sources said.

Many private infrastructure investment trusts are seeking to go public on India's stock exchanges in an effort to broaden their investor bases and enhance liquidity for existing stakeholders.

India currently has 27 InvITs, but only six are publicly listed. Vertis Infrastructure Trust manages assets worth around $3 billion, according to its website.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Mumbai and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

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