HDFC Life Insurance hits new high after multiple block deals

Shares of HDFC Life Insurance hit a new high of Rs 634, up 4 per cent on the BSE in the early morning deals on Wednesday after nearly 5 per cent of total equity of insurance company changed hands through block deals. The stock bounced back 10 per cent from its opening low of Rs 575 on the BSE. It surpassed its previous high of Rs 626, touched on October 23, 2019.

At 09:15 am, around 101.87 million equity shares, representing 5 per cent of total equity of HDFC Life, changed hands via block deals on the BSE, the exchange data shows. The name of the buyers and sellers were not ascertained immediately.

According to media reports, UK’s Standard Life is planning to divest up to 4.5 per cent stake in HDFC Life Insurance. According to terms of a detail obtained by Bloomberg, the shares will be offered in the range between Rs 562 and Rs 575.

At the end of the September quarter, Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 held 19.69 per cent stake in HDFC Life, shareholding data on the BSE shows. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life are the joint venture partner in HDFC Life Insurance, with the former holding 51.47 per cent stake.

Earlier on August 14, 2019, Standard Life had sold 67.1 million shares representing 3.33 per cent of total capital of HDFC Life at price of Rs 481 per share.

At 09:36 am, HDFC Life was trading 3.6 per cent higher at Rs 633 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.15 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 123 million shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE so far.

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Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE