ICICI to sell $2.5 bn stock overseas

ICICI Bank may raise $2.5 billion in the biggest overseas share sale by an Indian company, sources close to the development said.

India's second largest bank is suppose to have sought regulatory approval to sell American depository receipts as early as this month. The Bank may raise a similar amount at home as a part of a fundraising plan announced in April.

The fastest economic growth in 60 years has lured overseas investors to India, helping the stock markets to become the third largest emerging stock market after China and Russia to surpass the $1 trillion mark, ICICI Chief Executive Officer KV Kamath said on April 28

The bank must bolster its capital to support a doubling in infrastructure and manufacturing investments. "The bank should get a good response overseas, and even in the local market there is a lot of appetite for good quality paper,'' said A Balasubramaniam, who manages $6 billion at Birla Sun Life Asset Management in Mumbai and owns ICICI shares.

"The issue will ensure that capital is no longer a constraint for the next three years.'' ICICI has hired Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs to sell shares in India and overseas. Enam Financial Consultants and JM Morgan Stanley will also arrange the domestic portion of the sale.