Diversified group Piramal Enterprises Ltd said it has sold its entire direct stake of 9.96% in Shriram Transport Finance Co Ltd via the stock exchanges.
The move comes at a time when non-banking finance companies find the going tough due to a slow down in credit flow to the industry.
The company did not reveal the price at which the shares were sold, but is likely to have been close to the market price.
Shriram Transport shares are currently worth about Rs 1,037 each, or Rs 23,500 cr in all. As such, the sale is likely to have netted Piramal close to around Rs 2,400 cr.
Piramal Enterprises said the sale was done to “third party investors” on the floor of the stock exchange.
Separately, it was reported that about 10% of the company’s total shares were sold in two block deals in early trading on NSE today morning.
Shriram Transport shares had fallen by about 6% immediately after the deal, but have recovered since. They are currently at 3.8% below their previous close.
There has been some unconfirmed reports that Piramal was in talks with investors, including Anand Mahindra.
Piramal is one of India’s biggest healthcare firms, and also has presence in real estate and certain manufacturing industries.
Shriram Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1974 by Ramamurthy Thyagarajan, AVS Raja and T. Jayaraman in Chennai.
The group had its beginning in chit funds business and later on entered the lending business through Shriram Transport Finance (Commercial Vehicle Finance.
The company’s shares are among those that have withstood the recent volatility in non-banking finance sector better.