KKR sells stake in SBI Life worth $75 million

MUMBAI : American private equity (PE) firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co., or KKR, on Wednesday sold shares worth ₹533.7 crore (around $75 million) that it held in SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd through a block deal on the market, data from stock exchanges showed.

KKR sold 5.46 million shares at ₹976.25 apiece. On Wednesday, SBI Life shares closed at ₹999.75, down 1.4% on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex closed at 40,051.87 points, up 0.55%.

This is the third time this year that KKR has sold shares of SBI Life. Mint had reported on 25 July that Value Line Pte. Ltd, an affiliate of KKR that held the shares, had sold 6.5 million shares at ₹775 apiece, to raise ₹503.7 crore.

On 30 August, the private equity firm sold another tranche of 5.3 million shares at ₹810.07 apiece, which fetched it ₹429.3 crore. So far, across the three sales, KKR has raised ₹1,466.7 crore from the share sale. Before these sales, KKR held 19.5 million shares in the company, representing a 1.95% stake in the life insurer.

The PE firm acquired the SBI Life stake in December 2016, when it, along with Singapore state-owned investor Temasek, bought 19.5 million shares, each, from SBI Life promoter State Bank of India for ₹1,800 crore.

The latest sale leaves KKR with 2.23 million shares in the life insurance company.

Source: Live Mint