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Types of Merchant bankers
The categories of Merchant banker are:
Category I – To carry on the activity of issue management and to act as adviser,
consultant, manager, underwriter, portfolio manager.
Category II – To act as adviser, consultant, co-manager, underwriter, portfolio
manager.
Category III – To act as underwriter, adviser or consultant to an issue
Category IV – To act only as adviser or consultant to an issue
Leading merchant bankers in India
In India, there are public sector, private sector as well as foreign players in the
merchant banking industry. Some of the key players are listed below.
Public sector: SBI Capital Markets, Punjab National bank, IFCI Financial Services
Private sector: ICICI Securities, Axis Bank, Bajaj Capital, Tata Capital Markets, Yes
Bank, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Reliance Securities
Foreign merchant bankers: Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Morgan Stanley India,
Barclays Securities (India), Bank of America, Citigroup Global Markets India.
Present scenario of Indian Merchant Banking
India’s strength in Information Technology sector is well known, but it is India’s fast
growing manufacturing sector, driven by approximately three million SME`s (on small and
medium enterprises) in sectors ranging from auto components to industrial goods, that is
rapidly India a leading global manufacturing hub. Debt Financing is not the answer for
SME`s. There seems to an across the board consensus that Indian SME`s have not been able
to fully tap their potential and keep pace with India’s growth because of their inability to
access greater sources of financing. For vast majority of Indian SME`s, the high domestic
interest rate regime (prime rate of 12.75% to 13.25%) continues to be a substantial hindrance.
Furthermore, the ability to raise debt financing outside India (typically referred to as External
Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) is strictly regulated by RBI. No IPO boom for Indian SMEs
in Indian stock markets. The Indian stock markets including the BSE & NSE have essentially
ignored robust Indian SMEs. The avg. size of Indian IPO rose to approximately $100 million
in 2008-09. Meanwhile smaller Indian companies seeking to raise funds of less than that
amount have found it increasingly difficult to raise funds through Indian Stock Markets
listings.