ICICI Securities to divest 15 per cent equity

Mumbai, January 19: ICICI Securities, the brokerage arm of the country's biggest private bank, decided to offload 15 per cent of its equity by way of an initial public offer and private placement of shares.

The shares of ICICI Securities will be listed on stock exchanges in about six months, Chhanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director and CFO of ICICI Bank, said.

The Board of Directors of ICICI Securities approved the proposal at a meeting today. The company's equity capital is Rs 61 crore. Besides ICICI Securities, the bank also plans to list three other subsidiaries, including the insurance arms to unlock shareholder value, CEO K V Kamath had said recently.

Without indicating the size of the IPO, she said it is not necessary that the bank will sell the shares out of the present holding. There may be a fresh issuance of shares and 15 per cent of the post-issue capital will be with public.

ICICI Securities is a major player in retail broking and posted revenues of Rs 527 crore during the first nine months of the current fiscal while profits were Rs 108 crore in the same period.