India Eco Summit: ICICI to reduce stake in Firstsource

ICICI Bank today said it would reduce its stake in BPO company Firstsource in a phased manner, even as there are reports of appointment of a merchant banker for exiting from the outsourcing company.

"There is no real concrete thing of that kind, the only thing is that as per the US Fed guidelines that over a period, in any case, we are regulatorily bound to reduce our stake in some of the companies," ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar told reporters on the sidelines of India Economic Summit here.

That stipulation is there for quite some time, she said adding, "there are no specific steps we are contemplating right now."

ICICI Group currently holds 26.6 per cent in Firstsource which provides business process management services across banking and financial services, telecommunications and the healthcare industry.

However, there is a time-line which was imposed by the regulators in the US and there is a gradual phased out reduction, she added.

According to the reports ICICI Bank along with other investors have appointed Citigroup as merchant banker.

Firstsource shares today closed at Rs 36.50, up 2.96 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.