IFCI sells 1.5% equity capital of NSE for Rs263 crore

IFCI Ltd on Wednesday said it has sold 675,000 equity shares, constituting 1.5 per cent of the equity share capital of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), to raise around Rs263.25 crore.

The partial disinvestment of shares to an unspecified buyer, carried out on 15 September 2015, at price of Rs3,900 per equity share, is the first such large transaction on NSE in the last two years.

The transaction values the bourse at Rs17,955 crore, according to VCCircle Network.

IFCI did not specify who bought the equity shares. But a spokesperson for the exchange said, ''NSE is happy to welcome the new shareholder,'' without naming the entity.

IFCI, which held a little over 5-per cent equity in NSE prior to this deal, has been trying to sell its stake in the exchange since the start of this year.

Other financial institutions, including IDBI Bank Ltd, have also been looking to sell shares in the exchange in order to unlock capital.

Currently, State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest shareholder in NSE with a stake of 10.19 per cent. Other shareholders include Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd, according to NSE filings with the Registrar of Companies.

Meanwhile, reports quoting CEO and MD, Malay Mukherjee, said IFCI has plans to sell another 1 per cent of NSE share capital within a month.

We are gauging the market appetite and to see how many people approach us for further phase of the stake, CNBC-TV18 qouted Mukherjee as saying after the partial disinvestment of 1.5 per cent equity in NSE.

IFCI will hold 4 per cent stake in NSE post divestment of 1.5 per cent and the planned sale of another one per cent stake will leave it with a stake of 3 per cent.