Axis Bank has signed an agreement for sale of 1,90,500 equity shares of face value Re 1 per equity share of Mswipe Technologies Pvt Ltd at Rs 4,249 per share, resulting in a total cash consideration of Rs 80.94 crore.

This move comes in the backdrop of the private sector bank reeling under bad loans and there is pressure on the provisioning front.

In FY2017, the bank saw fresh addition of Rs 21,782 crores to its gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) portfolio, with the ratio of GNPAs to gross customer assets increasing to 5.04 per cent, at the end of March 2017 from 1.67 per cent as at end of March 2016.

MSwipe is primarily engaged in the business of merchant acquiring services, whereby it provides infrastructure for facilitating payment for goods and services purchased through a card.

In a communication to stock exchanges, the bank said the indicative time period for completion of the transaction is not later than July 2017. The percentage of shareholding/control divested is 8 per cent. The bank, however, did not mention the name of the buyer.

As per the details given by the bank under the listing regulations, Mswipe Technologies, which was incorporated in 2011, had total assets and total income of Rs 165.1 crore and Rs 57.4 crore, respectively, in FY2016.