Kotak Mahindra Bank to sell 20 crore shares of APBL to Bharti Enterprises for Rs 294 crore

Kotak Mahindra Bank on August 31 said it will sell 20 crore shares held in Airtel Payments Bank (APBL) for a cash consideration of Rs 294 crore or more to Bharti Enterprises Ltd.

A share purchase agreement has been executed by the bank for divestment of 20,00,00,000 equity shares (8.57 percent stake) held by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd in APBL. These shares were acquired for Rs 200 crore invested in tranches during calendar years 2016 and 2017, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The sale is expected to be completed by September 15 or before, for "cash consideration equal to or higher than Rs 294.8 crore; to be determined in accordance with the terms of the share purchase agreement," it added.

APBL was incorporated on April 1, 2010, under the RBI license for payments banks. It commenced its operations as a payments bank, with effect from November 23, 2016. The company's turnover was Rs 627.19 crore in FY 20.

The bank said it does not require any governmental or regulatory approvals for the proposed transaction. Bharti Enterprises has received no objection from the RBI to enable execution of the proposed transaction, it said.

Stock of Kotak Mahindra Bank traded at Rs 1747.40 apiece on BSE, up 0.66 percent from the previous close.