Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which looks to be cementing a comeback in India’s investment ecosystem following a four-year hiatus, has sold more stake in IDFC Ltd, its oldest bet here.
The Malaysian sovereign wealth fund has sold approximately 5.18% stake in IDFC, just days after selling a smaller chunk of shares in the financial services holding company.
Per VCCircle calculations, based on stock exchange data, Khazanah has sold more than 8.26 crore shares in IDFC Ltd at Rs 38.76 apiece, netting it Rs 320.37 crore (approximately $43.66 million at current exchange rates).
This pares its stake in the company to 2.12%, down from the 7.3% it held after selling shares worth an approximate $19 million just last month.
In a disclosure to exchanges, IDFC said an entity managed by Khazanah - Sipadan Investments (Mauritius) Ltd - had sold over 8.72 crore shares in the company, representing a 5.46% stake.
IDFC Ltd houses asset management and project finance businesses, and is a large shareholder of IDFC First Bank.
Khazanah had originally acquired a 8.97% stake in IDFC in 2007 for Rs 848.16 crore (about $210 million then). Three years later it raised its total exposure to the company to Rs 1,228 crore. Its total exposure is believed to be close to $300 million.
IDFC Bank was demerged out of IDFC Ltd in 2015. This gave Khazanah and other shareholders of IDFC a stake in the private-sector bank. The Malaysian investor had sold its entire stake in IDFC First Bank in 2016. It had harvested around Rs 1,050-1,100 crore (about $160 million) at the time.
Last year, Khazanah had made a quick exit from data analytics firm Fractal Analytics Inc. when it sold its stake in the firm to private equity firm Apax Partners.
The sovereign fund had also rolled its stake in India’s top hospitals chain, Apollo Hospitals, to Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Bhd. IHH sold its stake in Apollo in 2017. In the financial services sector, Khazanah had previously exited L&T Finance in 2015.
Shares of IDFC Ltd ended trading on Thursday up 12.42% at Rs 43 apiece, near its 52-week high of Rs 45.7. It has had a corresponding low of Rs 13.4 per share.
Interestingly, three other investors picked up shares of IDFC at nearly the same price that Khazanah sold at. Hedge fund Abakkus, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte, and the Avendus Absolute Return Fund picked up shares worth Rs 38.75 crore, Rs 51.15 crore, and Rs 58 crore respectively.
