The government is believed to have shortlisted four merchant bankers including HSBC Securities as global advisors for sale of government equity in Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers.
DSP Merill Lynch, I-Sec Securities and Ernst and Young figure among the other three names in the fray for advisorship, sources associated with the divestment process said.
The selection of the global advisor would be made by the Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment later this month, sources added.
The choice of advisor would then be approved by Divestment Minister Arun Shourie.
As many as eight contenders were reported to have been in the fray for the mandate prior to shortlisting.
The move to appoint a global advisor follows a decision of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment to privatise the company.
The government would divest a majority (51 per cent) stake along with management control while another two per cent would be reserved for allotment to employees.
The fertilisers and industrial chemicals company runs two plants at Trombay and Thal in Western India and employs around 5000 people.
RCF scrip is currently listed on National and Bombay stock exchanges. It posted a net profit of Rs 24 crore (Rs 240 million) last ficsal on a paid up equity capital of Rs 551 crore (Rs 5.51 billion) and a has a net worth of Rs 1218 crore (Rs 12.18 billion).