Rabobank International Holding sold 3.6 per cent stake in YES Bank on Thursday at Rs 357.03 a share. Rabobank sold 1.26 crore shares in a bulk deal. Rabobank received Rs 453.12 crore for this stake sale.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius Pvt Ltd bought 25.21 lakh shares and 22 lakh shares of YES Bank for Rs 357 a share respectively.

The Senior Vice-President Research at Unicon Securities, Ms Madhumita Ghosh, said:

“Rabobank had picked up its stake at a low rate and seeing YES bank's good performance over the last few years; the Dutch bank felt that they can get out of the banking sector after getting good returns.”

“Moreover, Moody's downgrade of many Indian banks on Wednesday indicates that the performance of banking sector in the next six months could be questionable so timing wise this was the best time to exit.”

YES Bank, on Wednesday, reported a 34 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 272 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, against Rs 203 crore in the corresponding year-ago period.

Earlier in March, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Investments sold its entire 4.17 per cent stake in YES Bank. The fund held 1.467 crore shares or 4.17 per cent stake in YES Bank through its Mauritian subsidiary Titiwangsa Investments.

The YES Bank stock closed down Rs 9.30 or 2.54 per cent from its previous close at Rs 357.10 on Thursday.

>manisha@thehindu.co.in