Societe General, Prudential, others buy 3 per cent stake in Anthem Biosciences for Rs 1,275 cr

New Delhi: Global financial institutions, including Societe Generale, Prudential Hong Kong and Ghisallo Capital Management, have acquired a combined 3 per cent stake in Anthem Biosciences from one of the company's promoters, Aruna Ganesh, for Rs 1,275 crore through open market transactions.

After the transaction, shares of Anthem Biosciences were trading flat at Rs 798.25 apiece on the NSE.

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The transaction also drew participation from several domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and an investment firm, according to block deal data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

These investors bought a total of 1,71,14,604 shares on Thursday, representing a 3.05 per cent stake in Anthem Biosciences, at an average price of Rs 744.80 apiece.

The aggregate transaction value stood at Rs 1,274.69 crore.

Other foreign investors that participated in the deal were Luxembourg-based Nordea Asset Management, Integrated Core Strategies Asia Pte Ltd and Social Protection Fund.

Among domestic institutional investors, the buyers included SBI Mutual Fund (MF), HDFC MF, Kotak Mahindra MF, UTI MF, Edelweiss MF, Canara Robeco MF, 360 ONE MF, Mahindra Manulife MF, and WhiteOak Capital MF.

PI Opportunities AIF V LLP, an affiliate of Premji Invest, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, Bajaj Life Insurance, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance were also among the investors that acquired shares of the firm.

Meanwhile, promoter Aruna Ganesh sold an equal number of shares and exited the company.

Following the transaction, the combined holding of promoters and promoter group entities in Anthem Biosciences declined to 71.63 per cent from 74.68 per cent.

Anthem Biosciences is a fully integrated Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organisation.