Sources close to Neiman Marcus Group Inc. said the luxury retailer had now hired several financial institutions to help them on an initial public shares offering. The announcement came after the firm spent the past few months exploring an equity sale to a sovereign wealth fund.

According to the sources, Neiman Marcus Group enlisted J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Credit Suisse Group AG as lead underwriters for the proposed market debut. Barclays PLC and Wells Fargo & Co. had also been solicited to help them on the initial stocks offering. The date of the launch, however, remains unknown.

Neiman Marcus Group was already traded publicly before being bought for US$4.9 billion by private equity firms Warburg Pincus LLC and TPG. They were privatized as a result of the deal eight years ago.

The luxury retailer had earlier discussions with sovereign-wealth funds, including the Qatar Investment Authority, in a bid to come across an outright purchaser for a part or for the entire retail chain. The discussions were unsuccessful, the sources said.