INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry may consider selling part of its stake in Axis Bank and ITC, held through SUUTI, in next few months, an
official said.
As on September 30, 2018, Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) held around 9.63 per cent stake in Axis Bank,
7.97 per cent in ITC and 1.80 per cent in LT.
While government is waiting for LT to launch a buyback offer to tender its shares; for holding
in Axis Bank and ITC, it would consider off-market deals, an official said.
"We are open to selling stake in Axis Bank and ITC through bulk
It all depends on valuation," official told PTI.
Shares of Axis Bank settled at Rs 666.50, up 0.53 per cent, while ITC was up 2.02 per cent
at Rs 295.40 at close of market hours on January 11.
A bulk deal is a deal in which more than 0.5 per cent of total number of shares of a
listed company are sold or bought by a single investor in open market
In a block deal, two parties make a transaction involving shares worth at least Rs 5 crore
Block deal transactions are conducted in a separate trading window.
Infrastructure major Larsen Toubro (LT) has already approached market
regulator Sebi for launching a share buyback programme
The government would participate in buyback programme, and is expecting to get around Rs 700 crore.
The government had sold 2.5 per cent
stake in LT held through SUUTI in June 2017 through block deals in market.
In February 2017, government had raised Rs 6,700 crore through
sale of 2 per cent stake held through SUUTI in tobacco-to-FMCG firm ITC.
In November 2016 it sold 1.63 per cent in LT, while in March 2014
it had sold 9 per cent stake in Axis Bank to raise Rs 5,500 crore through block deals.
SUUTI holdings in ITC, Axis Bank and LT are also part
of Bharat 22 exchange-traded fund (ETF).
