Prudential to sell 2% in India asset manager to meet regulatory threshold | Company News

Prudential Plc plans to sell a 2 per cent stake in India’s second-largest asset manager for as much as $327 million to comply with minimum public shareholding rules. 

Prudential Corporation Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the UK-based insurer, will offload 9.9 million shares in ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. on Aug. 27, according to an exchange filing Wednesday.

  Prudential is offering the shares at a 2 per cent-7 per cent discount to the last closing price and expects to raise between $311 million and $327 million, according to a term sheet. 

  ICICI Securities Ltd. and BofA Securities India Ltd. are arranging the deal. Prudential Corp. currently owns 34.59 per cent of ICICI Prudential AMC. 

  The UK-based insurer last sold a combined $1.4 billion worth of shares in the asset manager’s initial public offering and the pre-IPO placement eight months ago. ICICI Prudential AMC has since gained 48 per cent. The lock-in on Prudential’s shares ended in June. 

  The latest stake sale will bring the founder group’s aggregate holding in the asset manager to 85.6 per cent. Indian regulations require listed companies to have a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.