Temasek takes stake in ICICI Bank

Temasek takes stake in ICICI Bank

SINGAPORE: Singapore's state investment arm Temasek Holdings bought a 5.2 percent stake in India's largest private lender, ICICI Bank, worth an estimated US$200 million, a report said on Saturday.

The Business Times said Temasek bought about 32 million shares for and estimated cost of 9.15 billion rupees ($200 million) based on ICICI Bank's share price of 286 rupees on Friday.

The stake was purchased over time in the open market, the report said.

It was Temasek's second stake in an Asian financial institution in as many months.

Temasek, through the Sorak Financial Holdings Consortium, acquired a stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia last month.

Temasek's other partners in the consortium are Kookmin Bank of South Korea, Barclays plc of Britain and the International Commercial Bank Group of Malaysia. The consortium has taken a 51 percent stake in the Indonesian bank.

The investment in India "fits well with Temasek's focus of tapping commercially sound opportunities in Asia's financial services sector," a spokesman for the company was quoted as saying. -- AFP