New Delhi: UTI Mutual Fund chief Leo Puri has said he does not want an extension as long as there are differences within the board on whether its foreign investor also has to reduce its stake like the domestic shareholders under Sebi norms.

Domestic shareholders have been asking Sebi for more time to meet a regulatory diktat to reduce their stakes and also want the foreign investor to be asked to do the same.

Officials, however, said the regulator does not see merit in this demand as this particular foreign shareholder, T Rowe Price of the US, does not have cross holding in another fund house in India.

Executives at the fund house and its various investors, including domestic PSUs, said Puri has conveyed to all the stakeholders that he does not want an extension beyond his current tenure ending on Monday if the board remains divided, even as T Rowe Price wants him to stay on till the IPO of UTI Mutual Fund and has even approached the Bombay high court on this issue.

Puri confirmed the move but did not elaborate.

He is also said to have defended the performance of the fund house during his five-year tenure, amid allegations among some quarters that the growth has been muted during his leadership.

T Rowe Price International, which owns 26 per cent in UTI AMC, had last week approached the court seeking a direction to the finance ministry and Sebi to prevent certain PSUs from stalling the company's bid to come up with an initial public offer (IPO).

In its petition, T Rowe Price had claimed that four PSU undertakings - SBI, LIC, PNB and Bank of Baroda - were trying to stall the company's proposed IPO. The petition had also sought the implementation of Sebi's regulations and to extend the term of Puri for another year to see the IPO through.