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Infosys ADR issue will target tech funds

Instead, the company has decided to market the issue to selective technology-specific funds, which would prefer to hold on to the scrip rather than arbitrage with the underlying share in the domestic market.

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In fact, Infosys has gone in for a "small investment banking boutique" like the San Francisco-based NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, which is sound in attracting technology-specific investors rather than opting for bigger names like Merrill Lynch, Jardine or HSBC, say investment banking sources.

"The aim of the company is to be seen as a US company with a manufacturing base in India. For this reason it does not want its shares to be sold to the conventional investors in Indian equity and instead target investors who want to invest in technology stocks," said an investment-banking source.

"What would typically happen is that the lead managers would target not the Indian equity desk of a leading FII (foreign institutional investor) but its technology fund. The aim is to keep the holding among long-term technology stock investors," say sources.

When contacted, company sources confirmed that the company would not be targeting the conventional buyers.

"The idea is to broad base our investor profile. That is the reason we are looking at investors who will first look at us as a technology company and then as an Indian company," said a senior Infosys executive.

To attract technology investors in the US, the company has chosen two of the three investment bankers based out of the Silicon Valley to manage its issue.

In addition to NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, the company has appointed BankAmerica Robertson Stephens of San Francisco and BT Alex Brown of New York as co-leads to the issue.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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