Private equity investor Bain Capital will sell a 1.24% stake in private lender Axis Bank Ltd through a block trade on Tuesday, which is expected to fetch the investor $410 million, as per deal terms seen by Mint.
Bain Capital holds a 4.24% stake in Axis Bank as of 30 September through three entities - BC Asia Investments VII, BC Asia Investments III and Integral Investments South Asia IV.
As per deal terms, BC Asia Investments VII is selling a 1.24% stake at a floor price of Rs888, a 2% discount to the last closing price of Rs 906 per share.
JPMorgan is the broker to the block trade.
Bain Capital had picked up the stake in Axis Bank in November 2017, investing Rs 6,854 crore in the bank.
Indian stock markets have seen a flurry of block trades by private equity and venture capital investors over the last few months, as investors pared down their stakes amid brief upcycled seen in the markets.
Private equity major KKR sold a Rs 9,185 crore stake in Max Healthcare in the largest PE block deal seen in the Indian stock markets till date, while Blackstone has sold large stakes in two of its positions - a Rs 4,000 crore stake in autocomp maker Sona BLW Precision Forgings and Rs 2,650 crore in Embassy Office Parks. Others such as Tiger Global, Temasek and TPG also sold down their holdings in listed companies in recent months.
Even several promoters have jumped on the bandwagon to sell down part of their holdings. The promoters of Triveni Turbine sold a Rs1,600 crore stake in the company to several investors, while Biocon Ltd sold a Rs1200 crore stake in Syngene to mobilise funds.
Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector lender reported a consolidated net profit of ₹5,330 crore, up 70% for the quarter ended September 2022, as against ₹3,133 crore in the year-ago quarter.
The lender's net interest income grew 31% year-on-year to ₹10,360 crore from ₹7,901 crore in the last year quarter.
Net interest margin (NIM) for Q2FY23 came at 3.96%, up 57% YoY.
The bank reported an improvement in asset quality in the September quarter. Gross non-performing asset ratio dropped to 2.5% as on 30 September, 2022, from 2.76% a quarter ago and 3.53% a year ago.
