Blackstone sells Rs 6,100-crore stake in Embassy REIT; IndusInd Bank exits Nippon Life AMC

MUMBAI – While the primary market is flooded with IPOs this week, the secondary market has witnessed a slew of block deal offerings.

In trade on Wednesday, four major block deals took place and they were in Astral Ltd, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Embassy Parks REIT, and Shriram Pistons & Rings.

Global private equity firm Blackstone Group sold shares worth Rs 6,172 crore in Embassy Office Parks REIT through multiple block deals on Wednesday.

The PE firm, through its several affiliates, sold 19,53,09,190 shares at Rs 316 per unit. Co-sponsored by the Blackstone Group and Embassy Group, Embassy Office Parks REIT is India’s first real estate investment trust (REIT) to get listed in April 2019.

On Wednesday, Embassy REIT ended 1% down at Rs 332.25 per unit.

Apac Group, HDFC Mutual Fund, Fidelity Funds, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, SB Mutual, and Smallcap World Fund were among the top buyers of Embassy Office Parks REIT in block deals.

The second major deal took place in Nippon Life India Asset Management, wherein private sector lender IndusInd Bank exited the asset management company through sale of its entire 2.86% stake via block deals. Shares of Nippon Life ended 2.4% up at Rs 459.60. IndusInd Bank sold 17,857,355 shares for Rs 795 crore at Rs 445.35 a share. Among the major buyers were SBI Mutual Fund, who purchased 77,82,355 shares for Rs 347 crore. ICICI Prudential MF bought 60,50,000 shares for Rs 269 crore.

The third deal took place in Astral Ltd, wherein promoter group entities – Kairav Chemicals and Saumya Polymers- sold a cumulative 1.74% stake in the company for Rs 885 crore.

The two promoter group entities sold 46,80,737 shares at Rs 1,889.80 apiece. Shares of Astral ended 2.3% down at Rs 1,865.

Kairav Chemicals held 6.88% stake in Astral, and Saumya Polymers owned 9.83% stake as of September-end.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley bought 15,42,890 shares or 0.6% stake for Rs 292 crore. The Government of Singapore purchased 8,83,690 shares of Astral Ltd for Rs 167 crore, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority bought 5,25,000 shares for Rs 99.2 crore.

The National Pension System Trust SBI acquired 1,05,830 shares at Rs 1,889.80 a share.

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