Govt to raise 22,000 cr by selling stake in Axis Bank, ITC; deal to be completed by second week of May

The Union government is reportedly looking to raise Rs 22,000 crore by selling its stake in ITC (7.94 percent) and Axis Bank (4.69 percent), which it holds through the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), in a bulk deal on the exchanges, a report by  The Economic Times  stated. According to the report, the government is looking to complete the transaction by the end of the first or second week of May. “The proposed transaction is expected at a marginal discount of 2-3 percent to underlying trading price on the transaction date,” the ET report cited a source as saying, adding that the government is expected to “exit completely” from ITC and Axis Bank. [caption id=“attachment_4214725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The move would be a part of the central government’s plan to raise Rs 210,000 crore through divestment in state-run companies. It has already sold its entire stake in L&T and among others, Rs 90,000 crore is expected to be raised from partial stake sale in LIC and its subsequent initial public offer, plus equity sale is planned for IDBI Bank, the report added. SUUTI owns stake in 51 companies for the government, of these stakes in NSDL, STCI Finance, UTI-IAS, North Eastern Development Finance Corporation, Stock Holding Corporation of India, UTI Infrastructure Technology Services, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure and Over-the-counter Exchange of India are significant, it noted. Shares of ITC and Axis Bank declined on Wednesday after news reports that the central government is looking to sell stake in these companies. ITC fell as much as 7.6 percent to Rs 160.60 a share, while Axis Bank also declined 5.3 percent to Rs 368 on the BSE.