Apollo Hospital closes negative post stake sale

The promoter group that held 34.4 per cent equity stake in Apollo Hospitals has divested 50 lakhs equity shares constituting a 3.6 per cent holding in the company via bulk deal transaction on the stock exchanges. Reacting to this development, the stock of the company closed in negative, down by 2.55 per cent.

For reducing debt and associated pledges, the promoter group of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (AHEL) which is represented by Ms. Suneeta Reddy, divested their 3.6 per cent stake in the company. As a result of the divestment promoter group’s holding will reduce to 30.8 per cent of the paid-up equity capital. The stake sale is of around 5 million shares at floor price of Rs. 1450 per share which values approximately up to Rs. 725 crore.

Most of the funds will be used to reduce pledge as in to reduce debt and raise capital. Currently, total promoter pledge for the company sums up to 54 per cent. The company intends to reduce pledge holdings further to 20 per cent by December 2019 which will be in the best interest of the shareholder and stakeholders. As the company’s debt as of March 2019 stood at Rs. 3450.29 crore, it has been looking at various opportunities from promoter stake sale, selling of joint ventures, raising funds/ capital, acquisitions, etc.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is a Chennai based hospitals chain along with others platforms such as Apollo Pharmacy, Apollo Whit Dental and Ask Apollo.

On Thursday, the stock of the company closed at Rs. 1459.1, down by Rs. 2.55 per cent or Rs. 36.3 per share. The intraday high was Rs. 1574.95 and intraday low was Rs. 1454.15 on BSE.