EXIM
Bank's Global Trade Finance likely to float IPO
24
November 2006
Mumbai:
Global Trade Finance (GTF), the joint venture factoring
company started by Exim Bank of India, is planning to
come out with an initial public offer (IPO) of shares,
possibly in 2007 to raise its capital base.
GTF
would also plans to launch e-loans and letter of credit
facilities for small-scale industries from next financial
year.
GTF,
which has a paid-up capital of Rs81 crore, is 40 per
cent held by Exim Bank of India, followed by Fimbank,
Malta (38.5 per cent), International Finance Corp (
12.5 per cent) and Bank of Maharashtra (9 per cent).
IFC,
the private lending arm of the World Bank, is likely
to offload its 12.5 per cent stake during the IPO. If
the company skips the IPO plan, other shareholders may
pick up IFC's stake.
The
Rs10 face value shares of GTF are currently worth Rs60-70
each and IFC would get a good return on its investment,
market sources said. The valuation of shares might also
go up by March 2007 as GTF is a dividend paying company,
backed by strong performance and dominance in the factoring
market.
Factoring
is sale of receivable invoices at a discount to a third
party.
GTF
saw its net profit double at Rs13.33 crore in 2005-05.
The 
company
also reported a 47 per cenrt rise in turnover at Rs2,800
crore in the year.
