SBI to offload stake in SBI Life Insurance

The largest lender of the country State Bank of India (SBI) is divesting its 3.5 per cent and an optional 1 per cent stake in SBI Life Insurance company. The divestment will help the PSU bank to raise an amount worth Rs. 3465 crore.  

In a regulatory filing, SBI stated that the Executive Committee of Central Board (ECCB) of SBI in its meeting held on Wednesday, September 11,2019 has accorded approval for divestment of 3,50,00,000+1,00,00,000 equity shares constituting 3.5 per cent with an oversubscription upto 1 per cent of its stake in SBI Life to achieve Minimum Public Shareholding of 25 per cent (Part of Bank's share for MPS) through Offer for Sale process through Stock Exchange mechanism as per the regulatory prescription.

The floor price for the share sale has been fixed at Rs. 770 per equity share. It should be noted that the promoter and promoter group have a total shareholding of 67.30 percent in the life insurance company, in which SBI holds 62.10 percent and BNP Paribas Cardiff has 5.20 percent.

On Thursday, shares of State Bank of India opened at Rs. 287.05 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 285.30. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 288.70 and intraday low of Rs. 286.50. At 10:06AM, the stock was trading at Rs. 287.10, up by 0.63 per cent on BSE.

On the other hand, shares of SBI Life Insurance are trading at Rs. 792.65, down 0.76 per cent from previous close of Rs. 798.75.