| ICICI Bank may appoint the New York-based securities firms as early as next week to sell shares overseas, the people said, requesting anonymity before the contract is signed.' |
| Indian banks will sell some stock locally, they said. Chief Executive Officer K V Kamath needs funds to help support $500 billion of investments in infrastructure and manufacturing to drive the world's second-fastest pace of economic growth. |
| Goldman and Merrill ended decade-long ventures in India in the past two years to run their own investment banks as merger-advisory and stock underwriting fees rose to records. |
| "A lot of investors look at ICICI as a proxy for India's economic growth,'' Binay Chandgothia, who helps manage $1.6 billion as chief investment officer at Principal Asset Management Co (Asia) Ltd, said. |
| "They need the capital to grow.'' The bank, the nation's biggest by market value, plans to sell Rs 20,000 crore ($5 billion) of shares next month in India and the US after getting regulatory and shareholder approval, Kamath said on April 28. |
| Goldman's Hong Kong-based spokesman Eddie Naylor declined to comment as did Rob Stewart, Merrill's spokesman. ICICI Chief Financial Officer Vishakha Mulye said the bank would soon complete the hiring of underwriters. |
| Goldman hired 60 people in India and started offering stock brokerage in January. Goldman said it plans to provide investment banking services domestically, including underwriting share sales and advising on mergers. |
| Merrill increased its stake in its Indian investment banking venture with DSP Financial Consultants to 90 per cent from 40 per cent. Merrill paid DSP founder Hemendra Kothari $500 million in the transaction. |
| ICICI Bank had hired Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Nomura International (Hong Kong) Ltd for its share sale in December 2005 to raise as much as Rs 8,000 crore. |
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