ICICI is downsizing its asset base. It is set to sell Rs 4,000 crore worth of project finance and corporate assets to a clutch of public sector and new private banks by the end of this month. It plans to sell off Rs 8,000 crore worth of assets by the end of the current fiscal, ICICI managing director and CEO KV Kamath said today.
Analysts interpreted the move as a strategy to tide over the temporary asset-liability mismatches. Besides, the downsizing of assets will also help ICICI to meet the stipulated capital adequacy ratio once it becomes a bank through a reverse merger with ICICI Bank on March 31 next year.
"We are selling some of our assets. By the end of the month, we would have sold Rs 4,000 crore of project finance and corporate assets. Looking forward, our strategy is to churn our assets. We can orginate the assets and keep part of the profits and then sell it down to other players in the market. There are players who have difficulty in originating the assets," said Kamath.
"Our target is to sell off Rs 8,000 crore of assets by the end of the year. These assets have good market value and also good rating,
