next week for necessary approvals the buyers involved are foreign pe funds so these clearances are essential for crossborder fund transfers and unless the deal is cut on the exchanges the sellers will have to pay tax according to sources the shareholders may meet on monday to decide on the deal contours and regulatory issues there are no restrictions on foreign investment in ratings firms in fact care ratings local peers crisil and icra have moodys and sp as their largest shareholders respectively as per regulations a ratings firm cannot assess the credit worthiness of a firm holding more than 5 stake in it but pe funds will not be affected by this rule but time is a key factor the lenders want to complete the divestment by march 31 and reflect the sale in their financials sticking to such a stiff deadline may turn out to be exceedingly challenging its a race against time under sebi rules a buyer cannot acquire control of shares unless the tender offer formalities are complete and it takes 60 days for that postmarch will these banks lose interest and drop the process one still doesnt know said an ibanker privy to the talks they have five weeks to get back and may even decide to sell smaller lots among several funds there are also restrictions about foreign entities buying above 10 in a listed stock so its still openended but a bigger block deal will fetch a premium this person said i think the pricing expectations will be matched this is a growing company with a steady business and a strong cash flow the buyout funds can also arrange some leverage to finance this transaction said an existing institutional shareholder in the company