Gruh Finance gains 8% after HDFC sells 9% stake through block deal

HDFC offloaded 64.7 million equity shares representing 8.8 per cent of total equity of GRUH Finance for worth of Rs 1,599 crore at an average price of Rs 247 per share, the NSE data shows.

Shares of Gruh Finance rallied up to 8 per cent to quote at Rs 270 apiece in the early morning trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday after mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) sold nearly 9 percentage point stake in the company through block deal.

HDFC has off-loaded 64.7 million equity shares, representing 8.8 per cent of total equity of GRUH Finance. The stake, worth Rs 1,599 crore, was sold at an average price of Rs 247 per share, the NSE data show. Names of the buyers, however, could not be ascertained immediately.

Meanwhile, shares of Bandhan Bank were up 2 per cent at Rs 474, after surging 7 per cent to Rs 498 in early morning trade; while that of HDFC were ruling 1 per cent higher at Rs 2,144 per share on the NSE.

On January 7, this year, the board of directors of Gruh Finance, a listed subsidiary of the housing finance company, had approved the scheme of amalgamation of Gruh with Bandhan Bank. 

In April 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had allowed HDFC to acquire up to 9.9 per cent of the paid-up voting equity capital of Bandhan upon the effective date of the scheme. As of June 30, 2019, HDFC held 47.43 per cent stake in Gruh Finance. 

At 09:30 am, Gruh Finance was trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 262 on the NSE. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index was up 0.48 per cent at 11,001.