Govt raises over Rs3.8k cr from Axis stake sale

MUMBAI: The government has raised Rs 3,839 crore from the sale of its nearly 1.6% stake in Axis Bank. The sale proceeds will be part of the disinvestment target for FY23. The government through the Special Undertaking of the United Trust of India (SUUTI) had placed on the block its remaining shares in Axis Bank. The shares were to be sold at a floor price of Rs 831 apiece. The completion of the sale was announced by disinvestment secretary on Twitter.
Shares of Axis Bank closed 0.4% lower in the stock exchanges on Wednesday. At its current share price, Axis Bank is valued at Rs 2.6 lakh crore. With this sale, the government has raised Rs 28,380 crore through sale of holdings as against its disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore for the current fiscal. SUUTI continues to hold around 7.9% stake in ITC, which is worth over Rs 33,000 crore. However, the government has not announced any plans to offload the ITC shares.
SUUTI is the original promoter of Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank). SUUTI was the entity created in 2002 to oversee the liquidation of core investments made by the erstwhile UTI after a bailout by the government of the mutual fund's flagship scheme US-64.