HCL Technologies plans to sell shares in the US this year

MUMBAI: HCL Technologies, the Indian software developer led by billionaire Shiv Nadar, is planning to sell shares in the US this year, people with knowledge of the matter said, in what would be the first listing there by a large Indian company in more than eight years.

The company, which has a market value of $17 billion, is working with Citigroup Inc and Credit Suisse Group to arrange the offering, according to the people.

HCL Technologies may seek about $1 billion from the share sale, though the exact amount hasn’t been determined, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. HCL Technologies, based in Noida near New Delhi, would join larger competitors Wipro and Infosys, which are already traded in the world’s largest stock market. Indian firms have raised $15.4 billion from US share sales since 1999, when Infosys became the first to list in the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company is seeking a US listing to help raise its profile among international investors, according to one of the people.

HCL Technologies would bring the first US listing of more than $500 million from an Indian company since 2007, when billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Sterlite Industries India raised $2 billion in a sale of American depositary receipts, the Bloomberg-compiled data show. Representatives for HCL Technologies and Credit Suisse declined to comment. Debasis Ghosh, a Mumbaibased spokesman for Citigroup, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. HCL Technologies would first need to obtain shareholder approval for the US listing before finalising the exact size and pricing, one person said. The company had about $1.8 billion of cash and equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of last year.