India’s fast-rising handset maker Micromax reportedly is considering selling off a minority interest or even the entire company for the right valuation, the Economic Times reported today.

Citing anonymous inside sources, the Times said Goldman Sachs is advising Micromax on a possible sale and that “feelers have gone out to several Asia firms”. These include Chinese internet giant Alibaba and Japanese mobile operator SoftBank. Discussions are believed to have been held overseas.

Micromax’s backers are said to be looking for a valuation of as much as INR210 billion ($3.4 billion), which would be 2.5-2.9 times its total income.

Micromax pushed past Samsung in Q4 to become the first domestic vendor to take the top spot in the Indian smartphone market. Micromax had a 22 per cent market share, while Samsung was second with a 20 per cent share in Q4, according to Canalys.

For the full year, it remained second with a 21 per cent share, behind Samsung with a 25 per cent share (down from 36 per cent in 2013). Almost half of the three million units it sells each month are smartphones.

TA Associates, which has a 15 per cent stake in the company, is said to be pushing Micromax’s management to consider exit options, the Times said. The handset maker was valued at just INR15 billion in 2010, when TA Associates paid INR2.25 billion for its stake.

Sequoia Capital and Sandstone Capital each have a 2.68 per cent stake. The company’s four founders, with almost an 80 per cent interest, set up the firm as a parts supplier to Nokia in 2000.

They had long discussed an IPO and brought in professional managers last year from Bharti Airtel and Samsung to maximise growth before going public. In early January the company was said to be considering an IPO to raise $500 million. But those plans appear to have been put on hold.

The Times quoted an investment banker as saying: “A stake of at least 26 per cent now will also have a clear roadmap to a change of control. This will be a strategic and not a financial investor. But the promoters are also exploring selling out completely, provided they get their premium.”