Mumbai: Global banking major Citigroup is learned to have decided to offload its entire 9.8 per cent stake in Indian mortgage major HDFC, valued at over $2 billion at current market prices.
A senior official at Citigroup said the US' banking giant has decided to sell its stake in one of the best performing housing loan companies in the country as part of its ongoing capital planning efforts across geographies.
When contacted, the spokesperson for Citi India declined to comment on the development.
At today's closing price of HDFC scrip on BSE (Rs 700.35), Citigroup is likely to net over $2 billion (Rs 10,000 crore). The mortgage lender has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
The stake will be sold in block deals, the Citi India official said, adding the sale process is yet to take off.
A senior official at HDFC said investors have the right to exit his or her investment as and when he/she feels.
This is the second stake sale by foreign funds in the mortgage leader in this month alone. On February 2, Carlyle sold 1.3 per cent of its stake in HDFC for about $270 million (Rs 1,354 crore).
Shares of financial institutions have led the rally in the BSE's Sensex since the beginning of the current year and many a foreign institutional investor are said to be seizing upon the opportunity and selling their stakes.
Warburg Pincus had also sold about 17.5 million shares in Kotak Mahindra Bank through stock market deals to raise about $170 million.
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