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The IFCI stake sale is getting into fast mode. The board of the Delhi-based lender has decided to receive expressions of interest (EOI) from strategic investors for buying a 26 per cent equity stake in the company. It will start receiving EOIs from August 13 till September 14. Firms like Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Barclays could be interested in buying the stake.

The stake sale is being managed by Ernst & Young. IFCI would need to go to shareholders for an approval for their stake sale too. This will happen in the next annual general meeting.

Currently, IFCI has foreign investors like Morgan Stanley (2.5%), Goldman Sachs (3.3%), Citigroup (2.5%) and Deutsche Securities (4.61%). Some 11 financial institutions, domestic as well as foreign, hold 34.8 per cent in the company (as on 31 March, 2007), which includes 8.4 per cent stake and 5.01 per cent stake held by LIC and IDBI,

The company has holdings in companies like National Stock Exchange (a 7 per cent of its 12.4 per cent stake in NSE was sold in January this year), ICRA Ltd, LIC Housing Finance, and Stock Holding Corporation of India. It also owns stakes in companies like credit rating agency CARE, Tourism Finance Corporation of India, asset reconstruction firm ACE, factoring firm Foremost Factors, and venture capital fund IFCI Venture Capital Funds, and IFCI Financial Services.

According to Hindustan Times, IFCI has an accumulated debt of Rs 800 crore as of March 31, 2007.

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