Citi's India equity over Rs 8000 crore

Citigroup's equity investments in India are now worth over Rs 8,600 crore at Friday's closing prices. Citi's assets in India include its equity investments in over 130 companies - in sectors as varied as finance, software, pharma, infrastructure and real estate. These investments are significant when viewed in the context of Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit's recent statements that the bank might look at selling some of its assets to stay afloat, rather than merge with some other bank. Data collated from latest disclosed shareholding patterns of companies to NSE and BSE show that, as on September 30, over half the value of Citi's equity investments in India - worth nearly Rs 4,700 crore - was in one company, housing finance major Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), in which it holds a stake of nearly 12%. The number of companies in which Citi's shareholding exceeds 1% of the company's paid-up capital currently works out to 136, worth about $1.7 billion. The other top holdings were in Satyam Computer (worth nearly Rs 200 crore) and Educomp Solutions, K S Oils and IDFC, each worth between Rs 160 crore and Rs 170 crore. In terms of Citi's major stakes in other companies, it has 27% in Spentex Inds, 23% in Polaris and 21% in JBF. Market players said Citi's India portfolio could be worth even more if its holdings in those companies in which it holds less than 1% stake are also taken into consideration. Current rules do not require companies to disclose to the exchanges the names of shareholders holding less than 1% of their capital. The US financial house's investments in India are routed through a number of investment vehicles that include Citi's Mauritius-based investment arms and companies fully-owned by Citi holding major shares in listed entities. In HDFC, it holds 9.1% through Citigroup Strategic Holdings Mauritius while Citigroup Holdings Mauritius holds the balance 2.6% in the home mortgage major. It also has PE arms (whose investments are not strictly investments by Citi) holding major stakes in companies. For example, Citigroup Venture Capital Intl-Growth Partnership Mauritius holds its entire interest in Spentex. These investments have also been included in the list on the assumption that if these are ever to be liquidated, then at least some percentage of the sales proceed would also accrue to parent Citigroup. Citi's disclosed portfolio in India show that other than in HDFC, it also holds about 2.7% in Bajaj Holdings, the holding company for Rahul Bajaj group's financial services business and other investments. In the same financial services space, it holds stakes in IDFC, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Central Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, JM Financial, Dewan Housing, Federal Bank, IFCI, Indiabulls Securities, India Infoline, Karnataka Bank and a few other entities. The US financial services major also holds stakes in several companies from across sectors like infrastructure and real estate, software and technology, pharmaceuticals, telecom and others. On Friday Citigroup's stocks dipped below $4-mark, weighed down by reports that the financial major might have to merge with another bank or sell-off parts of itself to survive. In India market players are keeping their fingers crossed. In case Citi is pushed to the wall, resorting to fire sale in its India portfolio could be a possibility