HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd shares gained over 5% in intra-day trade to hit record highs on Wednesday, i.e. 30 October, after various media reports said that Standard Life Aberdeen has sold some of its stake in the company.
According to a report by CNBC TV-18, about 102 million shares of HDFC Life, representing 5.1% of the company’s paid-up equity, traded in multiple blocks on both BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday. The shares exchanged hands at an average price of Rs 595 per piece, valuing the entire transaction at around Rs 5,977 crore. Data also identified Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 Ltd as the seller in these block deals.
HDFC Life Insurance shares closed the session at Rs 635 apiece, up 4%, after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 643.65. The stock has risen by a whopping 70% in the last one year compared with a 16% rally in the benchmark Nifty 50 index.
According to media reports, UK’s Standard Life was planning to divest up to 4.5% stake in HDFC Life Insurance. A Bloomberg report had also mentioned that the shares would be offered in the range of Rs 562-575.
This is not the first time that Standard Life has trimmed stake in HDFC Life. Most recently, in August 2019, Standard Life had sold 67.1 million shares, representing 3.33% of the total capital of HDFC Life, at Rs 481 per share. Before that, it had pared stake at least twice in the calendar year 2019. By the end of the September quarter, Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 held 19.69% stake in HDFC Life, according to shareholding data on BSE. The other promoter Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC), meanwhile, held 51.47% stake in the company.
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