IFCI sells 0.5% stake in NSE for Rs89 crore
IFCI sold 2.25 lakh shares, or a 0.5% stake, in the stock exchange at a price of `3,950 apiece
Mumbai: IFCI Ltd on Monday said it has sold 89 crore worth shares in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the lender said in a filing to stock exchanges.
IFCI sold 2.25 lakh shares of NSE for a price of 3,950 per share on 30 June, the filing said. IFCI now holds around 3.05% stake in the exchange. The lender did not disclose the buyer’s name.
The IFCI stake sale comes after the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, on Friday said that it has sold a 5% stake in the exchange for about 911 crore to home-grown private equity fund ChrysCapital.
On 15 June, Mint had reported that ChrysCapital Investment Advisors India Pvt. Ltd and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd were in advanced talks to buy the 5% stake held by SBI.
Post the transaction, wherein SBI sold shares at a price of 4,050 per share, the lender continues to hold a 5.19% stake in the exchange. SBI’s investment banking arm SBI Capital Markets Ltd holds another 4.33% stake in NSE.
The transaction valued the exchange at 18,220 crore.
“ChrysCapital, along with one of their investors, has taken a 5% stake in the Company," said Kunal Shroff, managing partner at ChrysCapital.
NSE has built an extremely strong and efficient platform over the years and is the clear market leader across asset classes, said Shroff.
“ChrysCapital believes that the long-term prospects for the Indian economy are strong and expects NSE to benefit from the macro growth as well as increased financial participation over time," he added.
State-owned lenders have been on the exit route from the investment in NSE for quite some time now.
Burdened by bad loans and the need to set aside money to cover the risk of default, state-owned lenders are selling non-core assets.
IFCI’s latest divestment of NSE stake was the lender’s fourth such sale since September 2015. In April, IFCI sold a stake in NSE worth 59.25 crore at a price of 3,950 per share.
Also in April, state-run IDBI Bank Ltd sold around 2% in NSE for 3,900 per share.
These stake sales in the stock exchange also come at a time when the stock exchange and its shareholders, including domestic and foreign investors, are locked in a protracted tussle. Investors have been seeking an exit through an initial public offering (IPO) by NSE.
On 28 June, NSE said that it would file documents in January for an IPO that would give an exit opportunity to its institutional investors. The exchange will also seek an overseas listing by April 2017.
On 1 December 2015, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) amended the existing stock exchanges and clearing corporations regulations to make it easier for stock exchanges opting for IPOs.
In March, Mint reported that BSE is looking to launch its IPO before the end of this calendar year to raise as much as 800 crore. The exchange has already received in-principle approval from Sebi for its IPO.
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