Merrill Lynch, one of the world''s leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, picked up the stake through Indopark Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co Inc.

Indopark Holdings will get 37,88,050 shares (which makes up 5 per cent of Religare''s post IPO capital). These shares will have a lock in period of one year.

Religare, which had in July planned to sell up to 11.36 million shares through a book-built issue, is expected to sell up to 3.78 million shares to investors before the IPO.

"We feel proud that a global giant like Merrill Lynch is convinced of our business model and has invested in us. This is kudos to the Religare team''s passion and diligence and a reaffirmation of the bright future that lies ahead of Religare Enterprises," Sunil Godhwani, CEO & MD, Religare Enterprises, said.

Religare Enterprises is coming out with its maiden public offer soon. The IPO is being managed by Citigroup and Enam Financial Consultants.

Merrill''s acquisition is the latest in a series of moves by foreign firms to buy into Indian brokerages.

Standard Chartered recently bought a 49 per cent stake in UTI Securities Ltd for about $36 million, while Bank Muscat bought 43 per cent in brokerage Mangal Keshav.

In March, the private equity arm of Citigroup had bought a fifth of Anand Rathi Securities, while BNP said it was extending its alliance with Geojit Financial Services Ltd.