The country’s largest life insurer LIC’s stake in Axis Bank has crossed 10 per cent after it picked up the private lender’s shares through open market transactions.
LIC, one of the promoters in Axis Bank, had bought 52.07 lakh shares or over one per cent of the paid-up capital worth Rs 625.64 crore between September 2013 and January 21, 2014.
With the acquisition, LIC’s stake in the private lender rose to 10.44 per cent from 9.33 per cent, Axis Bank said in a filing on the BSE. The total number of shares of Axis Bank with LIC has gone up to 4.9 crore.
Shares of Axis Bank ended at Rs 1,186.85 per unit, down 0.19 per cent over their previous close on the BSE.
Meanwhile, Specified Undertaking of UTI, one of the promoters of Axis Bank, has appointed three merchant bankers for the sale of its stake in the bank.
The three merchant bankers selected for the stake sale are J P Morgan, Citigroup Global Markets and JM Financial Consultants.
Formed in 2003, SUUTI is an offshoot of erstwhile UTI. It holds 23.58 per cent in the country’s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank.
The other promoters of the bank are General Insurance Corporation, New India Assurance and National Insurance Company.