SBI plans to sell 1 per cent stake in NSE; invite bids

The country's largest lender SBI on Friday said it is looking to sell 50 lakh shares representing 1.01 per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as part of its capital raising exercise. Currently, State Bank of India (SBI) holds 5.19 percent stake in the exchange.

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SBI plans to sell 1 per cent stake

"SBI is one of the shareholders of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and intends to divest up to 1.0101 per cent (50,00,000 equity shares) of its equity shareholding in NSEIL (National Stock Exchange of lndia Ltd) through a competitive bidding process," the lender said in a public notice.

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The bid should be submitted for a minimum lot of 10,00,000 shares in the prescribed format and the last date for submission is January 15, 2020, it said. In 2016, SBI sold 5 per cent stake in the NSE to Mauritius-based Veracity Investments for Rs 911 crore, valuing the exchange at over Rs 18,200 crore. Post this transaction, SBI holding came down to 5.19 per cent while its subsidiary, SBI Capital, holds 4.33 per cent stake in the exchange.

The recent exit of IFCI from the NSE valued the country's largest stock exchange at around Rs 35,000 crore. Last month, IFCI sold its entire 2.44 per cent stake in the NSE for a consideration of Rs 805.6 crore. Besides NSE stake dilution, the bank is looking to raise fund from initial public offer of its subsidiaries UTI Mutual Fund and SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. SBI Cards, the credit card arm of State Bank of India, on Wednesday, filed Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offer (IPO) with Sebi in November.

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The company will offer up to 13,05,26,798 equity shares via offer for sale route. This will include up to 37,293,371 share sale by SBI and up to 93,233,427 shares on offer by Carlyle Group (CA Rover). In addition, the company will also issue fresh equity shares of Rs 500 crore. Up to 18,64,669 shares have been reserved for employees of the company whereas 1,30,52,680 have been reserved for SBI shareholders. SBI holds 76 percent in SBI Cards and rest of the stake is held by Carlyle Group.

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