Uday Kotak sells Kotak Bank shares worth Rs 1,687 cr; Canadian pension fund, Fidelity Funds among buyers

New Delhi: Kotak Mahindra Bank’s promoter Uday Kotak today sold 1.8 crore shares of the private sector lender for a little over Rs 1,687 crore, bringing down his stake to below 30 per cent to meet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive. The shares were purchased by several entities, including Canadian pension fund – Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec – and Fidelity Funds. [caption id=“attachment_3471100” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Uday Kotak, promoter, Kotak Mahindra Bank[/caption] According to bulk deal data available with the BSE, Uday Kotak, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, sold a total of 1.8 crore shares, amounting to 0.95 percent stake of the bank. The shares were offloaded on an average price of Rs 937.35, valuing the transaction at Rs 1,687.23 crore, the data showed. Following the transaction, Kotak’s personal stake in the bank declined to 29.79 percent from 30.74 percent. Earlier in March, Kotak had sold 1.5 percent shares of the private sector lender to two Canadian pension funds for an estimated Rs 2,255 crore through open market transactions. The stake sale by Kotak is part of an effort to comply with RBI’s directive. The lender has been asked by RBI to bring down its promoter shareholding to 30 percent by June 30, 2017. Shares of the bank today closed at Rs 941.30 on the BSE, down 0.42 percent from the previous close.