Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), has sold about 20 per cent of its holdings in India’s Edelweiss Financial Services for around Rs 71 crore ($11.5 million).
The Singapore fund is the second largest institutional shareholder in Edelweiss after Carlyle group, but its holdings have come down to 6.65 per cent currently, from eight per cent earlier, following the sale of shares on December 30, 2014. Most of the shares that the Singapore fund had sold, were mopped up by Edelweiss promoter Rashesh Shah.
GIC’s remaining equity stake in Edelweiss is estimated at $40 million.
The likes of SAIF Partners and ace market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala hold equity stakes in Edelweiss.
GIC and Shuaa Capital had jointly invested in the financial services company in December 2006, and later had increased stake by acquiring part of the Edelweiss shares held by Greater Pacific Capital. Edelweiss had listed in 2007, and during the last couple of years, private equity firm Carlyle Group has replaced GIC as the largest institutional shareholder in it.
The Singapore fund is the latest to sell its shares in Edelweiss, and earlier, other pre-IPO investors such as Sequoia Capital and Greater Pacific had also sold their equity holdings in the public listed financial services company.
In early 2014, Greater Pacific Capital had completely exited Edelweiss by selling its remaining 3.44 per cent stake for Rs 148 crore ($25 million) through open market transactions; and off this, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had picked up 1.3 per cent for Rs 55 crore. Sequoia Capital too had sold all its holdings in Edelweiss in early 2104.
For GIC, this was a second part-exit from the financial service provider in 2014. Earlier in the same year, it had offloaded 1.63 per cent stake in Edelweiss for Rs 70.6 crore through a open market sale early.
It was also GIC’s third part-exit from an Indian company in 2014 after it sold stakes in Marico Kaya and Hero MotoCorp earlier the same year.
