Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and JPMorgan Chase & Co are vying to sell shares for publicly traded firms in India as the government plans the biggest sell-off over the last five years, reported Bloomberg.
Robert Morrice, chairman of Barclays Capital in Asia Pacific, intends to double investment banking team in India as it competes to sell stock. Kalpana Morparia, CEO of JP Morgan in India, said that the bank expects a slew of disinvestment by publicly traded firms.
Reportedly, the Indian government said that it would cut holdings in its profitable firms to 90%, accelerating divestments after a five-year slowdown. According to Standard Chartered Bank, the government may raise $5.5 billion from its publicly traded firms.
In an interview with the news agency, Kevan Watts, country head for Bank of America, said: “The competition for this business is always extremely fierce. It is a big opportunity. We are talking to many people in the government about how we can help with the disinvestment process.”
