ICICI Bank sells 2% stake in subsidiary ICICI Securities

ICICI Bank on Friday said it has sold 2 per cent stake in its subsidiary firm ICICI Securities Ltd (I-Sec) through an open market transaction for Rs 310 crore.

ICICI Bank, the promoter of I-Sec, has divested 64,42,000 equity shares of the face value of Rs 5 each of the company on the stock exchange for an approximate total consideration of Rs 3.10 billion, the private sector lender said in a regulatory filing.

The number of stocks divested represents 2 per cent of the total equity share capital of the company as of June 2020, it said.

The transaction of shares took place through an open market sale, the lender added.

“Following this divestment, the bank’s shareholding in the company stands at 77.22 per cent,” it said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the board of directors of ICICI Bank had approved the sale of shares in the subsidiary firm to comply with the minimum public float requirement.

As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) norms, once a company is listed, its promoters are required to bring down their shareholding to 75 per cent within a stipulated period to meet the minimum public float requirement of 25 per cent.

ICICI Securities was listed on the stock markets in April 2018.

The company offers services like broking, distribution of financial products, wealth management and investment banking.

Shares of ICICI Bank was trading 4.04 per cent higher at 408.30 apiece on the BSE. ICICI Securities gained 0.89 per cent to Rs 495.30 per share.