Bain Capital sells 0.7% stake in Axis Bank via open market transactions

US-based private equity major Bain Capital on Thursday divested 0.7 percent stake in private lender Axis Bank for Rs 2,178 crore through open market transactions.

Bain Capital through its subsidiaries – BC Asia Investments III, BC Asia Investments VII and Integral Investments South Asia IV – sold shares of Axis Bank in three tranches.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Insurance Fund, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Societe Generale, Oman Ministry of Defense Pension Fund, Bay Bond Partners LP and others were the buyers.

BC Asia Investments III, BC Asia Investments VII and Integral Investments South Asia IV unloaded a total of 2,25,00,001 shares, amounting to a 0.7 percent stake in Axis Bank, according to block deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 968 per lot, taking the combined deal value to Rs 2,178 crore.

As of the March quarter, Bain Capital’s BC Asia Investments VII owned a 1.30 percent stake in Axis Bank, the exchange’s shareholding data showed.

Last year in November, Bain Capital divested 0.54% stake in Axis Bank for Rs 1,487 crore.

In November 2017, the Board of Directors of Axis Bank approved a fundraising of Rs 11,626 crore from a group of high-profile investors, including entities Bain Capital Private Equity and Life Assurance Corporation of India (LIC).

On Thursday, shares of Axis Bank rose 0.09 per cent to close at Rs 978.55 a piece on the NSE stock exchange.