Bain Capital to sell $410 million Axis Bank stake

Bain Capital holds a 4.24% stake in Axis Bank as of 30 September through three entities – BC Asia Investments VII, BC Asia Investments III and Integral Investments South Asia IV.

As per the deal terms, BC Asia Investments VII will sell a 1.24% stake at a floor price of ₹888 per share, a 2% discount to the closing price of ₹906 per share on Monday on NSE.

JP Morgan is the broker to the block trade.

Bain Capital had bought the stake in November 2017, investing ₹6,854 crore in the bank. Indian stock markets have seen a flurry of block trades by private equity and venture capital investors over the last few months as investors pared their stakes amid brief upcycles in the markets.

Private equity firm KKR sold a ₹9,185 crore stake in Max Healthcare in the largest PE block deal in the Indian stock markets so far, while Blackstone sold large stakes in two of its positions – a ₹4,000 crore stake in auto parts maker Sona BLW Precision Forgings and ₹2,650 crore in Embassy Office Parks. Others such as Tiger Global and Temasek also divested their holdings in listed companies in recent months.

Even several promoters have joined the bandwagon to sell part of their holdings. The promoters of Triveni Turbine sold a ₹1,600 crore stake in the company to several investors, while Biocon Ltd sold a ₹1200 crore stake in Syngene to mobilize funds.

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private lender, reported a consolidated net profit of ₹5,330 crore for the quarter ended September, compared to ₹3,133 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Net interest income grew 31% from a year earlier to ₹10,360 crore in the quarter. Net interest margin (NIM) during the quarter stood at 3.96%. The bank reported an improvement in asset quality in the September quarter. Gross non-performing asset ratio dropped to 2.5% as on 30 September, from 2.76% in the June quarter and 3.53% a year ago.