Synopsis

PB Fintech shares fell sharply on Friday after reports said Temasek-linked MacRitchie Investments likely sold more than a 2% stake via a block deal at a discount. The proposed transaction, valued at around Rs 1,740 crore, weighed on investor sentiment.

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PB Fintech shares fell as much as 8.12% to an intraday low of Rs 1,545.50 on Friday after Temasek's arm reportedly sold more than a 2% stake in the company through a block deal.

According to a CNBC-TV18 report, the deal, involving 2.37% of the company's equity capital and valued at up to Rs 1,740 crore, was executed at a floor price of Rs 1,601 per share. The floor price represented a discount of nearly 5% to Thursday's closing price of Rs 1,682.10.

The transaction is in line with a proposed block deal reported on Thursday, under which Singapore-based Macritchie Investments Pte was expected to sell up to 1.19 crore shares, or about 2.6% of PB Fintech, for approximately Rs 1,909 crore.

MacRitchie is a Singapore investment holding company linked to the city's state investment company, Temasek.

LSEG data as of Thursday showed MacRitchie owned 6.48% or 29.9 million shares in PB Fintech.

This is the second such block deal in PB Fintech in a little over a month. In May, the company's co-founders, Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal, sold stakes to a group of domestic and foreign institutional investors.

According to exchange data, On May 29 a total of 38 lakh shares changed hands at Rs 1,751 apiece, translating into a transaction value of about Rs 665 crore.

PB Fintech Chairman and Group CEO Yashish Dahiya sold 26 lakh shares, while Vice Chairman Alok Bansal offloaded 12 lakh shares.

On the buy side, the shares were picked up by a diverse set of institutional investors, including National Pension System Trust, Tata Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, BNP Paribas Financial Markets, and funds managed by Wasatch Advisors.

PB Fintech operates digital platforms Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, which are among the country's largest online insurance and lending marketplaces.

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