After Adani , GQG to disrupt IDFC FIRST BANK

Fort Lauderdale-based asset management firm GQG Partners has acquired a 2.6 percent equity stake in IDFC First Bank, a private sector lender, through open market transactions on September 1. The stake purchase was made by two of GQG Partners’ funds. The GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund purchased 6.38 crore equity shares, while the Goldman Sachs Trust II-Goldman Sachs GQG Partners International Opportunities Fund acquired 10.77 crore shares, according to bulk deals data on the BSE.

These shares represent 2.6 percent of the total paid-up equity of the private lender and were obtained at an average price of Rs 89 per share, amounting to a total of Rs 1,527.26 crore.

Notably, global private equity firm Warburg Pincus-owned Cloverdell Investment acted as the seller in this transaction, selling 27.87 crore shares, equivalent to a 4.2 percent shareholding in the bank, at the same average price. The value of the stake sale stood at Rs 2,480.34 crore. As of June 2023, Cloverdell held a 7.12 percent stake, which was equivalent to 47.17 crore shares in IDFC First Bank.

In the stock market, IDFC First Bank’s shares, which closed Friday’s trading session with a modest 0.11 percent gain at Rs 93.44 on the BSE, have shown an upward trend in 18 out of the last 20 weeks, marking a substantial 73 percent gain during this period.