Goldman buys stake in Indian firm

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will purchase a stake in ICICI Financial Services in Mumbai, India, published reports said. Goldman India CEO and managing director Brooks Entwistle confirmed today that the New York-based investment bank will purchase shares in ICICI, but declined to reveal just how many shares it would buy or how much it would invest, Bloomberg reported. India, the world’s second-fastest growing economy, is already attracting attention from the asset management and insurance business sectors: ICICI Bank has already announced it would sell a 5.9% stake in ICICI Financial Services to five unnamed investors, MarketWatch reported. ICICI Bank said that next Monday it will set the price band for its share offering, which is India’s largest, Bloomberg said. The investment is subject to clearance from India’s national bank, the federal Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority.