Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL) on Wednesday said that it is in the process of exploring various options in connection with the partial divestment of its equity shareholding in OakNorth Bank Ltd, in one or more tranches.
OakNorth Bank, which is a licensed UK commercial bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of OakNorth Holdings Ltd.
As per IBHFL’s latest annual report, the company's holding in the bank now stands at 15.71 per cent.
The divestment shall result in boosting CRAR (capital to risk-weighted assets ratio) and shall free up capital to grow the loan book of the company, IHFL said in a regulatory filing.
“We believe this is an ideal time to reap the benefits of this very successful investment through a complete or partial stake sale which will help your company raise liquidity in the current tough economic environment. Your company will thus look to monetise its stake in the Bank in the ensuing year,” the report said.
The company said it had invested ₹663 crores in November 2015 for a 40 per cent stake in the bank.
As per the filing, within two years of this, in November 2017, the company recouped its investment by selling about 10 per cent of the bank to Government of Singapore owned investment arm GIC for ₹ 770 crores.