UK banking giant Barclays is considering buying a 10% stake in Indian distressed assets firm Asset Reconstruction Co of India Ltd. (ARCIL) from ICICI Bank, a senior Barclays official told Reuters, Monday.
ICICI, India’s second-largest bank, holds a 30% stake in ARCIL, the rest being held by a consortium of banks, including State Bank of India and IDBI Ltd. Citicorp Finance Ltd., also holds a 4.4% stake in ARCIL.
Barclays wants to gain a foothold in the Indian distressed debt market, where banks are increasingly selling off bad loans. ARCIL alone has bought bad debts worth about $4.5 billion from various banks in the year to March 2006.