MUMBAI: Bandhan Bank Ltd will launch an up to Rs 4,473 crore ($688.6 million) initial public offering of shares on March 15, in what will be the biggest ever initial share sale by a local bank.

The Kolkata-based bank and its shareholders will be selling up to 119.3 million shares, or about 10 per cent of the post-issue share capital of the bank, in a price range of 370 rupees to 375 rupees each in the IPO, according to a prospectus and public notice on Thursday.

The bank will sell up to 97.7 million new shares in the IPO that will close for subscription on March 19. International Finance Corp, part of the World Bank Group, and IFC FIG will sell 21.6 million shares.

Bandhan, formerly a microfinance company specialising in small-value loans, and IDFC Bank were the only two companies to win bank permits from the Reserve Bank of India in 2014, in the first bank licensing process in a decade. Bandhan Bank started operations in August 2015.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, Goldman Sachs, JM Financial and J.P. Morgan are the banks managing the IPO.