Tata Sons rakes in $1.38 billion from sale of Tata Consultancy shares; scrip finishes over 5% lower on BSE

Tata Sons sold shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) for about $1.38 billion in a block deal, according to a media report. The company, on Tuesday, sold about 31.3 million shares, after originally offering 28.3 million shares to investors, said a Bloomberg report. Tata Sons will use the funds to pay creditors of its wireless division. A part of the proceeds will be used to raise its holdings in some listed units, the report added.

Shares of TCS, Asia's largest software developer, closed 5.22% lower on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalisation of some Rs 5.53 lakh crore.

Representational image. Reuters

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley managed the offering. Post the share sale, Tata Sons' holding in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has come down to around 72 percent from 73.52 percent.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which opened at 33,818.22 points, closed at 33,856.78 points - down 61.16 points or 0.18% percent from the previous session's close. The NSE Nifty finished at 10,426.85 points - up 5.45 points or 0.05% over its previous close.

The TCS stock was the worst hit among the bluechips on both the Sensex and the Nifty during morning trade.

TCS shares were offered at between Rs. 2,872 and Rs 2,925 apiece, Reuters reported on Monday.

In 2017, Tata sold Tata Teleservices Ltd's mobile phone operations to the BSE-listed Bharti Airtel Ltd, and had promised to service the unit's debt.

With inputs from agencies