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Our Bureau

Mumbai , June 22

STANDARD Life, the Edinburgh-based mutual insurer, on Wednesday sold 4.9 per cent of its shares in HDFC in the open market for over Rs 1,000 crore.

This reduces Standard Life's holding in HDFC to 9.35 per cent.

Of this, 1.15 crore shares (4.6 per cent) were sold in a block deal on the BSE at Rs 841 per share which works out to Rs 969 crore. CLSA Merchant Bankers bought these shares.

A notice on the BSE said CLSA bought 1.19 crore shares (4.8 per cent of equity) at Rs 841 per share.

After the deal was struck in morning, the stock price of the housing finance company gained 3.37 per cent to close at Rs 871.75 - the highest gainer among the BSE Sensex stocks.

In a statement, Standard Life said that, as a consequence of this sale, it will be able to increase its share of HDFC Standard Life Insurance and will do so immediately to the maximum level permitted by the Indian insurance law. Standard Life intends to increase its stake to a level of parity with HDFC should legislation permit it in the future.

"We have a long-standing, close and valuable relationship with HDFC which we hope will continue for many years to come. The Indian financial services market offers strong long-term growth potential and we believe that we have one of the very best partners in that market," a press release said quoting Mr Sandy Crombie, Group Chief Executive, Standard Life.

Standard Life expects to remain a major shareholder in HDFC. "However, this share sale rebalances our holding and allows us to increase our direct interest in our insurance joint venture, which we believe has a great future," he said.

"We deeply value our relationship of over a decade with Standard Life and look forward jointly to further contribute to and develop the life insurance market, which has a huge potential in India," the release said quoting Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC.

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