Temasek, GIC in exit mode from ICICI Bank

Temasek Holdings and Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds, are looking to sell a part or all of their holding in ICICI Bank, India’s biggest private sector lender by assets.

Temasek and GIC are looking to sell a part or all of their holding in ICICI Bank through block deals on stock excha-nges, according to brokers familiar with the matter. JP Morgan has been given the mandate to do the block deals, they said.

Temasek had 3.46 per cent stake in ICICI Bank through its unit Allamanda Invest-ments, while GIC owned 1.68 per cent stake in the lender as of December 31, 2011, shareholding data on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) website showed.

ICICI Bank shares closed down 2.07 per cent, or Rs 16.25, at Rs 769.35 on Wednesday on the BSE. At that price, Temasek and GIC’s holdings in the bank is valued at Rs 4,557 crore.

GIC had reduced its stake in ICICI Bank by selling 1.59 million shares in the quarter ended December 31, 2011, as per the bank’s shareholding pattern.

“As a policy, we do not comment on market speculation,” a Temasek spokesperson said in response to an e-mail query from Business Standard. E-mail queries sent to GIC and JP Morgan remained unanswered.

Apart from ICICI Bank, GIC owns stakes in 20 other Indian companies including RIL, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Infosys. Its total investment in Indian companies is valued at Rs 11,000 crore, according to BS Research Bureau.