It has got Ernst & Young, one of the Big Five consultants, to consolidate the accounts of the joint ventures in a way that is acceptable to the New York Stock Exchange, where the company will eventually seek listing.

It is also making efforts to speed up negotiations with financial institutions and foreign partner Continental of the US to ease its way out of the troubled Modi Rubber Ltd (MRL).

Modicorp is the holding company which also represents the BK Modi group in the corporate managements of the joint ventures the holding company enters into. These include ventures with giant multinational corporations Rank Xerox, Alcatel, GBC, Olivetti, etc.

Goldman Sachs isworking on a preliminary strategy to ensure that the intellectual capital and organisational structure of the group are in line with international requirements.

The reason why the group has taken up plans to go for an IPO overseas is that its joint venture partners are extremely strong names in the American financial market, and once the "group approach" under which Indian financial institutions treat all companies in a group on the same level of credit rating problem is solved, and the Modi Rubber imbroglio is resolved, the group expects to present a strong profile to international investment bankers.

Modicorp wishes to make it clear to the investor public that Modi Rubber is the only arm where it has debt problems, and without it, the group is financially strong if the issue of Modi Rubber's dues are worked out.

According to top company sources, the positioning of the company as a management holding unit for a diverse range of top international products may prove attractive in the internationalfinancial markets.

Modicorp was formed on March 21, 1996. The corporate enterprise was originally meant to herald the shift of BK Modi, the well-known Delhi-based industrialist, to Mumbai, the country's commercial capital, to give him an identity that would be distinct from the rest of the family.

While Modi eventually himself did not shift to Mumbai, Modicorp itself took off as a vehicle to organise the BK Modi group joint venture's managements professionally. After a benchmarking exercise undertaken with Ventron Corp in South Africa, and following exhaustive interactions with joint venture partners in the US, the UK, France and Australia, the new organisation evolved.

Modicorp comprises diverse businesses including office automation, telecommunication, information technology, networking systems, service, paper, tyres, power etc. Each of these businesses are under separate joint ventures with renowned international partners.