Edelweiss doubles investor wealth in 2014; Rakesh Jhunjhunwala picks up 1 crore shares

NEW DELHI: Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd rallied over 8 per cent in trade on Friday to hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs 64.90, after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala picked up one crore shares for an estimated Rs 55 crore through the open market route.

The stock has doubled investors' wealth so far in the year 2014.

Jhunjhunwala purchased the shares (amounting to 1.3 per cent stake) of the financial services firm for an average price of Rs 55 apiece, according to the bulk deal information with the BSE.

In separate transactions, Edelweiss Financial Services shareholders GPC Mauritius sold a total of 2.62 crore shares of the firm for about Rs 148 crore, PTI reported.

Individually, GPC Mauritius I LLC offloaded 1.18 crore shares of Edelweiss Financial Services, while GPC Mauritius III LLC sold 1.44 crore scrips of the company.

Additionally, ECL Finance Ltd, the NBFC arm of Edelweiss Financial Services, on Thursday announced the public issue of unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 1,000 each, aggregating to Rs 200 crore.

The issue also comes with an option to retain over- subscription up to Rs 200 crore, aggregating to a total of Rs 400 crore, said the PTI report.

The NCDs, which will open for subscription on June 17 and close on July 2, are in the nature of subordinated debt with a tenure of 70 months.

The funds raised through the issue will be used for financing activities, including lending and investments, to repay existing loans and for business operations like capital expenditure and working capital requirements, Edelweiss Financial said in a statement.