Temasek to sell 1.4% in ICICI Bank

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings is selling 1.38 per cent stake in India’s No. 2 lender, ICICI Bank, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters, in a deal to raise up to Rs 1,472.3 crore.

The share sale comes less than a week after Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus took advantage of India’s recent market gains to pare stakes in two financial companies, in deals worth Rs 2,138 crore.

The Sensex is up 14 per cent so far this year, mainly led by financial stocks.

Temasek held 39.83 million shares of ICICI Bank, or 3.46 per cent, as of end-December, via its unit Allamanda Investments Pte, according to exchange data. ICICI Bank’s 15.9 million shares are being sold in the range of Rs 924 to Rs 937.75 each, the term sheet showed, a zero to 1.5 per cent discount to on Tuesday’s closing price. The deal would raise Rs 1,490 crore at the top end of the band.

Goldman Sachs is sole bookrunner to the issue, the term sheet showed. ICICI Bank and Temasek spokesmen declined comment. Temasek’s move to reduce its ICICI Bank holding is part of the investor’s rebalancing of financial portfolio and there could be more partial exits in other banks, sources said.

About 36 per cent of Temasek’s portfolio was in financial services in the financial year that ended March 31, which could change in the months ahead under a team that includes investment bankers from UBS and Credit Suisse.

Buyout firms that invested billions of dollars during the Indian market’s boom years before the global financial crisis are widely expected to look for opportunities to cash in their holdings, with more stake sales anticipated in coming months.

Source: Business Standard