Govt aims to raise Rs 5,316 cr through Axis Bank stake sale; keeps option to sell additional 1.02% shares

New Delhi: The government will sell part of its stake in Axis Bank held through SUUTI to raise up to Rs 5,316 crore starting Tuesday, according to a filing. The offer for sale of up to three percent would be for two days from 12 February and is part of the government’s disinvestment programme through which it aims to raise Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal. [caption id=“attachment_4198527” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “The Specified Undertaking of the United Trust of India (seller) proposes to sell up to 50,759,949 (1.98 percent) equity shares of Axis Bank (base offer size) on 12 February, 2019,” Axis Bank said. The floor price for the offer has been fixed at Rs 689.52 per share. It is lower than the Monday closing price of Rs 710.35 apiece on the BSE. Shares held by SUUTI, a promoter entity of Axis Bank, would be offloaded through the sale. The sale would be open for non-retail investors on Tuesday and retail investors can put in their bids on Wednesday. As per the filing, the government would also have the option to sell an additional 26,337,187 shares or 1.02 percent stake in case of over subscription. SUUTI, which was created to take over part of the assets and liabilities of the now defunct Unit Trust of India (UTI), owned 9.56 percent stake in Axis Bank at the end of December 2018. In the 10 months of the current fiscal, Rs 36,000 crore has been raised through stake sale in CPSEs, as well as through tranches of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and share buybacks.