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Investment banking space is getting crowded with more and more players looking to entering that area. India Infoline Ltd, a domestic stock broking firm, is planning a foray into investment banking with a focus on cross border transactions, mainly in the SME space. The company will set up offices in three major cities in the country and five overseas centres within six months, The Hindu Business Line reports.

India Infoline's Head of Investment Banking, Ajit P. Menon, and the Head of International Operations, Graham Sharpe, said that these overseas centres would particularly target the non-resident Indian community, offering portfolio management services, investment banking and cross-border facilitation.

The Indian arm of the UK-based Marchmont Capital Advisors was merged with India Infoline in December 2005, and this has added a new dimension to the portfolio of services. "There's potential for cross-border interface, where increasingly companies are looking to invest in India. We plan to target such companies, providing a host of services. The thrust area would be to serve the small and medium sized companies, which often face the high service rates of global financial giants — a problem area," Menon explained.