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Non-Tech : ICICI Ltd - (Nyse: IC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (324)	3/6/2000 12:38:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 494

Message 13065343

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (324)	3/6/2000 4:31:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 494

ICICI Ventures to sell 25% stake -Merrill Lynch+JP Morgan lead underwriters Sourav Mukherjee MUMBAI 6 MARCH SO YOU thought setting up a holding company for all its internet ventures was the real bang? Wait till you hear this one: ICICI Ventures is going public and ICICI is selling off 25 per cent at an estimated price of Rs 1,000 crore! ($217 million) Given an internal code name 'HighValue', the plan which aims at taking ICICI group's venture capital asset management company public, has been on the minds of the management for quite some time now. ICICI has only recently decided to go in for a sale of 25 per cent of its 100 per cent holding to the Indian public. DSP-Merrill Lynch and JM-Morgan Stanley have been appointed as lead managers for the sale. Sources said that although ICICI Ventures' equity base is at Rs 3 crore, its reserves stand at Rs 16 crore. Therefore, there is enough room for capitalising these reserves prior to the float. ICICI Ventures is valued at around Rs 4,500 crore ($978 million), based on the price to earnings ratio of 88 that the only other listed venture fund company, IL&FS Venture Capital, commands on the stock markets. However, the pricing of the issue will be slightly lower so that both investors and employees can enjoy the benefits of an immediate upturn. "The issue is likely to be priced at around Rs 1,000 per share. If the share is split into one rupee shares, it can be priced at Rs 100 a share, making it a strong retail buy," said sources. Sources said that there were two main reasons behind the move. First, ICICI would be able to unleash some of the value of ICICI Ventures through the offer for sale. This will boost ICICI's earnings and bring some value to the parent company as it would come in the form of capital gains. On the other hand, by listing ICICI Ventures, its employee stock option scheme will become all that more powerful, helping the organisation attract better talent through the ESOP route. ICICI Ventures, which also has a global fund, has recently reaped a windfall with its $2.4m investment in a start-up called Neoforma.com getting listed on Nasdaq and fetching the fund a return of $100m. Ever since, ICICI Ventures has been taking aggressive positions in several start-ups, both in India and in the Silicon Valley. ICICI is also setting up a new holding company for its dot.com ventures. This company has plans of becoming an Indian CMGI with a foothold in over 20-odd portals. This holding company, which will be a direct investor in these ventures (unlike ICICI Ventures which is an asset management company) will list itself in Nasdaq through an offer for sale by ICICI to international investors. "This will be a double whammy and ICICI is offering new age stocks to both the Indian and overseas markets while at the same time ensuring that its core shareholders - those in ICICI - benefit from such decisions," an investment banker said. -The Economic Times