Bandhan Bank shares jumped nearly 7% on Tuesday, hitting an intraday high of Rs 167.90 on the NSE, after reports that Abu Dhabi-based IHC was among the parties in early-stage discussions to acquire a stake in the lender’s promoter, Bandhan Financial Services (BFSL).
IHC is the investment company of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s deputy ruler and national security adviser. BFSL owns a little over a third of Bandhan Bank, according to an ET report.
According to the report by ET, the move is aimed at giving early-stage financial investors an opportunity to sell stakes, and ET was first to report in its March 13 edition that BFSL was looking to give its long-term investors an exit.
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The report by ET further highlighted that this stake sale will open up an exit option for GIC of Singapore and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), backers of the firm for more than a decade.
Bandhan Financial Services has been working with advisers Jefferies to find strategic investors for 25-32%. These two held nearly 30.3% of BFSL at the end of March and have been seeking a full or partial exit, and their stake alone could be nearly $500-600 million.
Some other investors include SIDBI, Financial Inclusion Trust, North East Financial Inclusion Trust, and The Bandhan Employees’ Welfare Trust. The report also said that if any other shareholder chooses to exit, this will lead to a much larger transaction.
As of March 31, BFSL owned 59.98% of Bandhan AMC and 97.16% of Bandhan Life Insurance Co. Singapore’s GIC and Chrys Capital are other investors in the asset management firm.
Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd had a stake of 37.5% in the bank at the end of June. As per the bank’s licensing agreement with the Reserve Bank of India, it must reduce the stake to 26% by 2030.
The report also said that banks and sovereign funds have been widely canvassed in the Gulf for a stake in BFSL, and they are said to include First Abu Dhabi Bank and Qatar Investment Authority, as well as a few PE buyout funds such as Carlyle and EQT.
Bandhan Bank share price movement
In the last one month, Bandhan Bank's shares were down 5.60% and nearly 1.10% in the last one year. In 2026, the shares jumped 15.57%.
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The stock slipped 30.77% and 49.22% in the last three years and five years, respectively.
Disclosure: This article has been written by Surbhi Khanna, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an investment advisor. Surbhi Khanna does not hold any financial interest in Economic Times as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of the EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.