The Asian Paints shares were sold by RIL at a price of Rs 2,207 per equity share. The shares of the paint company ended at Rs 2,243.65, up by Rs 28.35 or 1.28% over the Friday closing price of Rs 2,215.30.
The deal comes on the heels of last week’s significant transaction where Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) offloaded a 3.6% equity stake in the company to SBI Mutual Fund through a block deal executed on Thursday. SBI Mutual Fund, India’s largest asset manager, acquired the 3.6% stake for Rs 7,704 crore ($900 million), making it one of India’s largest bilateral block deals. The shares were picked up at Rs 2201 apiece.
The deal allowed Reliance to monetise part of its long-term investment in Asian Paints, which it held via Siddhant Commercials Ltd. The transaction delivered a windfall to Reliance, translating into a near 23-fold return on a 17-year-old investment.
Asian Paints shares have been under stress, declining by more than 20% in the past one year while its year-to-date fall is to the tune of 3%.
The company had a lackluster earnings with its consolidated net profit declining by 45% decline to Rs 692 crore for the fourth quarter, as weak urban demand weighed on performance. The net profit stood at Rs 1,257 crore in the same quarter last year. The revenue from operations also fell 4% year-on-year to Rs 8,330 crore.”The weak demand conditions prevalent for the past few quarters continued to affect the paint industry even in the last quarter of the financial year. The demand for decorative coatings was only marginally better than in the third quarter,” Amit Syngle, MD and CEO of Asian Paints had said, commenting on the results.Also Read: Vishal Mega Mart promoter to sell 10% stake worth Rs 5,057 crore via block deal: Report
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