MUMBAI, November 4: The Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) will seek the approval of the Reserve Bank of India to increase the ceiling on foreign institutional investors' (FII) shareholding in the company from 24 per cent to 30 per cent.

An extra-ordinary general meeting of shareholders on Tuesday gave the premier rating agency the go ahead to approach the central bank for permission to raise the ceiling.

Currently the holding of FIIs, overseas corporate bodies and non-resident Indians in the paid-up equity share capital of the company stands at 22.10 per cent.

US mutual fund major Capital International's holding in Crisil has already crossed the 10 per cent level, according to market sources. It has been actively sourcing the Crisil stock from the secondary market over the last one year.

Capital International picked up about two lakh shares of the rating agency on September 16 at Rs 488 per share, a Rs 20 premium over the closing rate. The purchase was done through a block deal -- brokered by the broking arm of Credit Lyonnais -- from Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC). Another FII which has a large holding in the scrip is Morgan Stanley.

Large FII demand has reduced the floating stock of the rating agency in the stock exchanges.

Of the small equity base of 62 lakh shares, only 14.38 per cent was left with the public at the end of July 1997. According to market sources, this figure has gone down further over the past few months. The demand for Crisil, a sedate scrip till a year back due to its low equity base (Rs 6.20 crore), boomed following the acquisition of 9.68 per cent stake in the company by the international rating major Standard & Poor's (S&P's) in May this year. S&P's bought the equity from Asian Development Bank, a start-up investor in Crisil. The acquisition was done with the prior knowledge of the company.

The speculation of S&P's interest in the Crisil stock is fuelled by the fact that the global rating agency traditionally holds majority stakes in equity partneships.

"The world over, it has either gone for strategic alliance or the controlling stake when it comes to equity partnership. Crisil is the only exception. It is only a matter of time before it takes the plunge", one industry analyst said.

The Crisil stock was quoted at Rs 500 per share on the National Stock Exchange, an increase of 10 rupees, in late trading on Tuesday. Turnover in the stock was only 300 shares. The share was however untraded on the Bomaby Stock Exchange. The Crisil stock touched a new 52-week high of Rs 520 on October 21 -- a day before the announcement of the half-yearly results -- on sustained institutional buying coupled with speculative purchases on anticipation of fairly good results.

The rating agency's net profit for the six months ended September 30, 1997, recorded a 37 per cent rise. Crisil posted a net profit of Rs 5.13 crore compared with Rs 3.74 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year. The rating agency registered a 31 per cent increase in the number of instruments rated and a 104 per cent increase in the volume of debt traded.