Mumbai:

In its June 2005 issue AsiaMoney said: "India enjoyed another fantastic year 2004-2005 in equity capital markets as domestic companies raised Rs246.33 billion from June 2004 until the present, a record-breaking total. And DSP Merrill Lynch was undoubtedly at the heart of it enjoying a market share of 18.68 per cent for domestic equity issues and underwriting $1.057 billion equivalent. As a result, DSP Merrill Lynch is the runaway winner for ''best domestic equity house."

The ereport further says, "DSP Merrill Lynch can claim credit for helping to underwrite almost every major transaction of the year, be it initial public offerings or secondary share issues, across a spectrum of sectors. The standout deal of the year was Tata Consultancy Services $1.169 billion equivalent IPO in August, for which DSP Merrill Lynch jointly underwrote the Rs24.93 billion domestic tranche. Demand for the IPO was enormous, with orders exceeding $8 billion; and AsiaMoney chose it as the top Asia equity issue for 2004." "DSP Merrill Lynch also had a slew of other impressive issues, including acting as joint bookrunner for the domestic tranches of Jet Airways $433.89 million equivalent IPO in February and Punjab National Bank''s $713.877 million equivalent IPO in March, some of the most high-profile deals ever from India.

DSP Merrill Lynch was voted second best for overall sales services in Asiamoney''s 2004-2005 Broker''s Poll, and was voted second in execution, behind CLSA.

Commenting on the award Mr. Hemendra Kothari, Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch Limited said: "The recognition of being the best equity house in the industry in a particularly challenging time, globally as well as in India, is very encouraging." He added "the award reflects our leadership position in IPOs and secondary share issues across spectrum of sectors, as also our leadership position in the equity capital markets."

DSP Merrill Lynch Limited (DSP ML) is a joint venture with Merrill Lynch & Co., the leading international capital raising, financial management and advisory company, which has a 40 per cent equity ownership in DSP ML. DSP Merrill Lynch has received similar ratings in the past from Euromoney, FinanceAsia and The Asset.