Kotak Mahindra Bank block deal launched, Canada Pension Fund to offload shares

In a separate development, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank on Tuesday acquired a 7.84 percent stake each in the open public digital infrastructure framework entity ONDC.

The block deal of Kotak Mahindra Bank has been launched wherein Canada Pension Fund, a stakeholder in the private lender, will sell shares tomorrow (March 24),  as per media reports.

The base deal size is 28 million shares, with an upsize of 12 million shares, taking the cumulative total to 40 million, the report added. A discount of 0-5 percent on current market price is on the cards, it said.

The seller, Canada Pension Fund, will offload 1.41 to 2.02 percent stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank at Rs 1,681.26-1,769.75 per share, the report said.

The total deal value is estimated to be around Rs 4,707.5 crore to Rs 4,955 crore. The books will close at 7:30 am tomorrow.

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The shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank closed at Rs 1767.95 on March 23 on the BSE, down by Rs 40.70 or 2.25 percent as compared to the previous day's close. The block deal launch, with the likely sale of stake by Canadian Pension Fund, is considered to be the reason behind the stock coming under pressure today.

In a separate development, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank on Tuesday acquired a 7.84 percent stake each in the open public digital infrastructure framework entity ONDC.

Both the banks have invested Rs 10 crore each in the entity.

"Kotak Mahindra Bank has subscribed to 10,00,000 equity shares of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) for a consideration of Rs 10 crore, translating into an equity shareholding of 7.84 percent in ONDC as of March 22, 2022,” Kotak said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.