BNP Paribas Sells Rs 5,125 Crore Shares in 12 Companies

New Delhi, Feb 29 (PTI) Financial services company BNP Paribas on Thursday sold shares of 12 companies, including Punjab National Bank and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, for Rs 5,125 crore through open market transactions.

Paris-based BNP Paribas through its affiliate BNP Paribas Arbitrage offloaded shares of 12 companies on the NSE and BSE.

According to the bulk deal data available on the NSE, BNP Paribas Arbitrage offloaded shares of Punjab National Bank worth Rs 898 crore, sold shares of Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd for Rs 795 crore, disposed of shares of Union Bank of India for Rs 761 crore.

In addition, BNP Paribas Arbitrage also sold shares of GMR Airports Infra Ltd and NMDC Ltd worth Rs 1,434 crore on the NSE.

Meanwhile, BNP Paribas Arbitrage picked up 59,387 shares of PNB worth Rs 72 crore.

Details of the buyer(s) of shares of BHEL, Union Bank of India, GMR Airports Infra and NMDC Ltd could not be ascertained on the NSE.

BNP Paribas Arbitrage also divested its stakes in Axis Bank, DishTV, IDFC, IDFC FIRST Bank, Piramal Enterprises Ltd, SBI Life Insurance and Updater Services Ltd, as per the block deal data available with the BSE.

These shares were sold at a combined transaction value of Rs 1,235 crore.

Meanwhile, East Bridge Capital Master Fund I acquired the shares of these companies on the BSE.

Shares of Punjab National Bank rose 1.74 per cent to close at Rs 122.85 apiece, shares of BHEL gained 2.49 per cent to settle at Rs 230.30 per piece, and Union Bank of India climbed 4.01 per cent to end at Rs 146.50 per piece on the NSE.

Also, the scrip of Axis Bank gained 0.10 per cent to close at Rs 1,075.70 apiece, SBI Life Insurance rose 0.97 per cent to settle at Rs 1,554.95 per piece and Updater Services jumped 3.62 per cent to finish at Rs 361.70 per share on the BSE.