IDFC sells part of holding in NSE

Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC) has sold a part of its holding in the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The company said the move followed NSE’s decision not to get itself listed on the bourses.

IDFC, which was holding 3,547,990 shares as on March 31, 2011 brought down the holding to 2,947,990 shares as on March 31, 2012. The company did not disclose the value of the shares sold.

Besides dilution of stake in NSE, IDFC also sold 25 per cent stake in IDFC Asset Management Co and IDFC AMC Trustee Co and booked a profit of around Rs 89 crore.

Deepak S Parekh, chairman, IDFC, said, “Value of the investment was not going up satisfactorily in NSE, due to Bimal Jalan committee report, which stated that an exchange cannot be listed. So, we sold the portion of the shares we were holding in NSE.”

The Bimal Jalan committee had stated that an exchange cannot be listed on itself. Thus, BSE could get listed on the NSE and NSE on the BSE.

Meanwhile, the company stated that it sold stake in IDFC Asset Management Company Ltd and IDFC AMC Trustee Company Ltd, wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company, to Natixis Global Asset Management. “Profit on sale of long-term investment includes Rs 89 crore on sale of stake to Natixis,” said the company's annual report.

IDFC has over a dozen subsidiaries and these have made a consolidated profit of around Rs 39 crore. The total capital of these subsidiaries is around Rs 1,164 crore.

“The Board is conscious, since some of them (subsidiaries) have started performing well, we have to see how to accelerate,” said Parekh. He noted, three of its subsidiaries paid dividends to the tune of around Rs 69 crore.

Board approves change of name
Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC) on Monday got shareholders’ nod to change the company name to IDFC Ltd. According to the company's Chairman, Deepak S Parekh, the company is widely known and referred to as IDFC in business circles as well as by the general public.

It is felt that changing the name of the company to IDFC Ltd would formalise the same. It would also contribute towards developing and strengthening IDFC as a distinct brand equity. A shorter name also has a greater recall value, he said.