Aditya Puri, other entities to invest ₹4,000 cr in PNB Housing Finance
Gopika Gopakumar & Swaraj Singh Dhanjal
A consortium of investors, led by American private equity giant The Carlyle Group and former HDFC Bank Ltd chief executive Aditya Puri, will invest ₹4,000 crore in PNB Housing Finance Ltd, the mortgage lender said on Monday.
The capital infusion will make Carlyle the largest shareholder in PNB Housing.
Carlyle will invest as much as ₹3,185 crore through affiliate Pluto Investments via a preferential allotment of shares and warrants at ₹390 apiece. Existing shareholders, including a fund managed by Ares SSG, will invest ₹400 crore, and private equity firm General Atlantic will invest ₹390 crore. Puri’s family investment vehicle, Salisbury Investments Pvt. Ltd, will invest ₹25 crore as part of the transaction. Puri, who joined The Carlyle Group as a senior adviser in
MUMBAI:
November after retiring from HDFC Bank, is expected to be nominated to the board of PNB Housing as the private equity firm’s nominee director, said a statement by the home financier.
State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) will continue to be a promoter of the mortgage lender. Carlyle and its affiliates, as well as Puri’s investment firm, will also be classified as promoters. Shares of PNB Housing rose by the maximum daily limit of 20% after the announcement to touch ₹525.2 on BSE.
The investment by Carlyle, on a fully diluted basis, will give the PE firm a 30% stake, while its existing holding through Quality Investments will decline to 19.9%. PNB’S stake will fall to 20.28%, filings showed.
“Pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s takeover regulations, the proposed transaction will trigger a mandatory open offer by Pluto Investments S.a.r.l. for the purchase of up to 26% equity shares of PNB Housing Finance from public shareholders,” the filings said. Carlyle’s shareholding in the company will depend on the outcome of the open offer.
Post capital infusion (including warrants), the capital adequacy ratio as of March 31 would increase from 18.7% to over 28%.