Lalbhais Offer Icici Stake In Anagram

Anagram Finances promoters are in talks with Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India to sell part of their holding in the Arvind Lalbhai group company to the financial institution. Sources close to Anagram said, the discussions are on and a final decision is likely to be taken soon.

Anagram sources, however, denied any such move. An ICICI spokesperson too said she was not aware of any such negotiations. However, industry sources said Arvind Mills vice-chairman, Sanjay Lalbhai, who is also a member of the ICICI board, had asked the financial institution to buy a part of the promoters holding in Anagram. However, the sources added that ICICI was yet to make up its mind and was not too keen on the deal.

Anagram has been seeking a strong partner, capable of accessing low-cost funds, for some time now. In todays competitive scenario, I dont see many NBFCs surviving. If Anagram is to grow, we need a strong partner who can raise cheap resources and help us expand our market share aggressively, Sanjay Lalbhai had said a couple of months ago.

Anagram had earlier held inconclusive talks with Marubeni Finance Corp, the finance arm of the Japanese conglomerate. Anagram has also been talking for quite some time to GE Capital, which was among the first to evince an interest in the company. Although the talks between Anagram and GE Capital have not been formally called off, they apparently got bogged down due to GEs insistence on a majority stake in the company. The Arvind Lalbhai group was interested in selling only 26 per cent in Anagram. However, the talks between the two sides have not been totally severed and they are still negotiating, sources said.

GEs policy worldwide is to control all its operations. In its Indian ventures too, the group has been constantly raising its stake. Anagram, which has an established network in west India, is a strong player in the retail car and truck finance segments.