Uday Kotak sells 1.5% stake in Kotak Mahindra for Rs 2,255 cr to Canadian funds

Kotak Mahindra Bank’s promoter Uday Kotak on Wednesday sold 1.5 percent stake in lender to two Canadian pension funds for an estimated Rs 2,255 crore through open market transactions. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec acquired a total of 2.76 crore shares, amounting to 1.5 percent stake, in the private sector lender. These shares have been purchased from Uday Kotak, the main promoter of the bank. [caption id=“attachment_502742” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Uday Kotak, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank. Reuters[/caption] According to block deal data available with the BSE, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought 92 lakh shares while Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec snapped up 1.84 crore shares. The shares were picked up at an average price of Rs 817, valuing the transaction at Rs 2,254.92 crore, the data showed. At the end of December 2016, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 5.76 per cent stake in the lender. Uday Kotak, along with family members, held 33.61 percent stake in the bank as of December 2016, out of which 33.30 per cent is held by Kotak in his personal capacity. The stake sale by Uday Kotak, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the private sector lender, is part of an effort to comply with RBI’s directive. The lender has been asked by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to bring down its promoter shareholding to 30 percent by June 30, 2017. Further, the bank will have to reduce promoter holding to 20 percent by December 31, 2018, and 15 percent by March 2020 in line with the guidelines for new bank licence. Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank fell nearly 1 percent to close at Rs 824.50 on BSE on Wednesday.