Warburg Pincus exits IDFC First Bank, sells 2.3% stake for Rs 1,195 crore

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus exited IDFC First Bank by selling its entire 2.3% stake through the open market on Thursday for Rs 1,195 crore.

Cloverdell Investment, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, offloaded 15.9 crore shares at Rs 75.24 a share, bulk deals data on the BSE showed.

On Thursday, shares of IDFC First Bank closed 3% lower on the BSE at Rs 75.39


However, there were no details of any buyers in the bulk deals data. On Wednesday, reports said that the private equity firm was looking at exiting the private sector lender and raking in Rs 1,191 crore through the sale.

In September last year, Cloverdell Investment divested a 4.2% stake in IDFC First Bank for Rs 2,480 crore through block deals. Then, GQG Partners’ Rajiv Jain acquired a 2.6% stake in the bank for Rs 1,527 crore.

Then in December, the private equity firm, through another affiliate Dayside Investment, sold a 1.3% stake or 9.17 crore shares in the private sector lender for Rs 790 crore. Dayside now holds no stake in the bank.

In the last year, shares of IDFC First Bank gave nearly 47% returns to investors, much better than many of its larger peers.

For the quarter ended December, the lender reported an 18.4% growth in net profit to Rs 715 crore on the back of strong net interest income and improved asset quality.