Hectic buying by these two entities would partly explain the incredible rise in the ICICI scrip price for the period under consideration. From a low of Rs 44.50 in April-end, the stock zoomed by over 75 per cent within a month to quote at Rs 78 on the Mumbai Stock Exchange.

The stock currently trades at Rs 93.40. With Rowe Price-Flemming International's entry, the FII stake in the top-ten shareholder list has climbed to 24.22 per cent. While Bankers' Trust has 20 per cent stake, Templeton Investment Counsel holds 2.69 per cent in ICICI.

At the current market price of Rs 93.40, Rowe Price-Flemming International's investment in ICICI is valued at Rs 72.97 crore. Bajaj Auto, too, upped itsstake in ICICI for the period under consideration. Between May and June, the corporate acquired close to 80 lakh shares and is now the fourth largest shareholder of ICICI, edging out The New India Assurance Company Ltd to the fifth slot.

According to sources, Bajaj Auto has further hiked its stake to 5.02 per cent in the month of July. The company, along with its subsidiary Bajaj Holdings, now own over 2.3 crore shares of ICICI, constituting 5.01 per cent of ICICI's paid-up capital of Rs 478 crore.

At ICICI's current market price of Rs 93.40, the value of Bajaj Auto's investment stands at over Rs 214 crore, much more than the company's first-quarter net profit of Rs 133.44 crore! Among the other major shareholders, Unit Trust of India (UTI) has increased its stake in ICICI to 6.32 per cent from 5.67 per cent earlier by acquiring an additional 30 lakh shares during May-June 1999.

After the conversion of the 12.5 per cent FCDs later this year, UTI's stake will go up to 7.51 per cent, while LIC will hold13.15 per cent. Bankers Trust will see its stake come down from the current 20 per cent to 18.66 per cent.