Subhash Chandra's Zee Telefilms, which has been on the lookout for a strategic investor to Zee for a while now, plans to raise its overseas holding by 19 per cent from the present 30 per cent to 49 per cent.

The Zee Telefilms' board has scheduled a meeting on 29 April to discuss this matter, as well as consider the financial results for the fourth quarter and the year ended 31 March, 2002. 

The news that overseas holding is to go up follows close on the heels of a report put out last week by the Press Trust of India that the Zee's promoters have diluted their stake by seven per cent to bring it down to 52.78 per cent as of 31 March, 2002. 

Of the 52.78 per cent promoter stake, foreign promoters (including overseas corporate bodies) hold 29.46 per cent share while the Indian promoters hold the remaining 23.32 per cent stake, the report, sourcing information available with the stock exchanges, said. 

Promoter stake has been falling steadily in Zee Telefilms for more than two years now. It stood at 66.59 per cent in March 2000. Over these two years, promoters have reduced their exposure by a whopping 14 per cent. 

Besides changes in the promoter equity, FIIs have increased their stake in ZTL to 33.88 per cent from 24.71 per cent or by just over nine per cent over the last 12 months. 

The stake held by the public stands at 6.51 per cent, down from 7.59 per cent on 31 March 31, 2001. Private Corporate Bodies as well as the category of NRIs/OCBs held steady at 6.14 per cent and 0.69 per cent respectively over most of last fiscal, the report said.