IFCI close to selling part of stake in NSE

IFCI, an Indian state-run lender, might sign an agreement to sell part of its 5.5 per cent stake in the nation's biggest stock exchange in three days.

IFCI is in advanced talks with a foreign private equity fund to sell 1.1 per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is helping the Delhi-based company with the sale, Chief Executive Officer Malay Mukherjee said, without disclosing details.

The lender's profitability as measured by the return on common equity has declined for seven straight years and was at 7.7 per cent in the year ended March 31, data compiled by Bloomberg show. IFCI, which initially held a 12.44 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based bourse, in 2007 sold seven per cent to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, NYSE Group Inc, General Atlantic LLC and Softbank Asian Infrastructure Fund.

"If this comes, that would make my balance sheet much healthier as far as the bottom line is concerned," Mukherjee said in an interview on Wednesday.

Shares of IFCI ended 0.3 per cent higher at Rs 37.7 on BSE.

The lender first attempted to sell the stake in October. That was delayed as the bids from investors were below expectations, according to Mukherjee who declined to comment on the valuations sought by the company.

The bourse's other existing investors include Life Insurance Corp. of India, State Bank of India and IDFC. IDBI Bank Ltd, another stakeholder in NSE, is also seeking buyers for its stake of about five per cent, a December 19 advertisement in the newspaper showed.