IDFC First Bank shares jump over 5%, hit 52-week high as GQG buys 2.58% stake
IDFC First Bank jumped 5.4% to hit a 52-week high of Rs 98.5 in Monday's trade on BSE after US-based GQG Partners bought a stake in the private lender through bulk deals on Friday.
According to exchange data, GQG Partners has picked up 17.1 crore shares or 2.58% stake in the lender for about Rs 1,527 crore. The transaction was done at Rs 89 apiece.
Meanwhile, Warburg Pincus affiliate Cloverdell Investment has sold a 4.2% stake in the company.
As of the June quarter, Cloverdell held about 7.12% of IDFC First Bank.
NRI investor Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners shot to the limelight earlier this year after it made contra bets in Adani Group stocks at a time when the conglomerate was marred by corporate governance allegations.
Since then, GQG has consistently doubled down bets on Adani stocks by making fresh investments. Currently, it holds a 2.67% stake in Adani Enterprises, a 5.03% stake in Adani Ports, a 7.73% stake in Adani Power, and a 3.5% in Adani Green.
Apart from Adani group stocks, the US-based fund also owns stakes in ITC, Patanjali Foods, JSW Energy, Max Healthcare and a few other stocks.
Domestic brokerage firm ICICI Securities said, «Qualitative and quantitative disclosures on asset quality suggest sharp improvement not only in the stock but also in the quality of customers at the time of onboarding and across vintage, which provides more confidence on the longevity of the current benign credit cost trajectory, in our view.
