Mumbai, April 12: ICICI Bank will sell its 10.77 per cent stake in Crisil to Standard & Poor?s (S&P), which has made an open offer for shares of the Indian rating firm.

The country?s second-largest bank could pocket more than Rs 53 crore from the sale of 6.84 lakh Crisil shares, which are being bought by S&P at a price of Rs 775.

Explaining the decision to participate in the offer, a senior bank official said the attractive price and the takeover of Crisil by the global rating major prompted the move.

Though he did not reveal the gain to the bank from the transaction, he said the fact that the offer is at a premium to the six-month average price of Crisil shares in the market means that there are clear benefits in sight. The takeover by S&P was also an important consideration.

ICICI Limited was one of the promoters of Crisil when it was set up in 1987 as India?s first credit rating agency. The others were Asian Development Bank, UTI, United India Insurance Company, Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank, Canara Bank and Central Bank of India.

Recent reports have suggested that the specified undertaking of UTI (UTI-I) will also sell its 8.43 per cent stake, as will BSE broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who, along with his wife, owns 14.30 per cent of the rating agency.

On Sunday, S&P raised the open offer price to Rs 775 from Rs 680 per share and the offer size by 10 per cent, to 65.57 per cent of Crisil?s equity. Under the revised offer, S&P intends to purchase up to 41.7 lakh shares, if at least 26.4 lakh are being offered for sale. The conditional offer will make S&P the majority shareholder of Crisil, with a grip on 75 per cent of its voting capital.

The global rating agency explained that while the original offer price was attractive and fair to shareholders of Crisil, it remained committed to achieving its aim of becoming a majority shareholder. ?Because this is a conditional offer, we increased the price to ensure that we achieve our stated goal. The revised terms provide a much larger number of shareholders the opportunity to utilise what we consider is an attractive exit,? S&P president Kathleen A. Corbet said.