The government has offloaded 9% stake held by the Specified Undertaking of UTI (Suuti) in Axis Bank through block deal. The sale of 42.2 million shares at Rs 1,334 per share in the third-largest private-sector bank raised around Rs 5,603 crore. Suuti, which was created in 2002 after the UTI US-64 fiasco, held 97.22 million shares, or a 20.72 per cent stake, in Axis Bank earlier.
The proceeds of the Axis Bank stake sale will help the government bridge its fiscal deficit for 2013-14. Moreover, JM Financial, Citibank and JPMorgan handled the share sale.
The Centre is on course to meet the revised disinvestment target of Rs 16,000 crore for the year.
