ICICI Bank shares hit 52-week high on raising stake in ICICI Lombard

ICICI Bank shares jumped over 3% to hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹1089.95 apiece on Friday after the private sector lender increased its shareholding in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited.

ICICI Bank purchased an additional 25.14 lakh shares of the insurance company for ₹431 crore through an open market transfer on Thursday, February 29. With this, ICICI Lombard has become a subsidiary company of ICICI Bank.

The promoter bank held a 47.91% stake in ICICI Lombard which has now risen to nearly 49.5% following the latest deal.

In May last year, the private bank's board of directors approved the resolution to purchase an additional 4% stake in ICICI Lombard. The transaction had to be carried out in multiple tranches.

"The bank has, through the stock exchange mechanism, further purchased 2,514,365 equity shares of face value of ₹10 each of the Company for an approximate consideration of ₹4.31 billion (₹431 crore). Consequently, the company has become a subsidiary of the bank," the private sector lender said in an exchange filing.

ICICI Bank added that it had secured the required approvals from the banking and insurance regulators for the plan to increase its shareholding.

The latest transaction comes just days after the bank bought close to 81 lakh shares, aggregating to a 1.6% stake in the insurer for ₹1,356 crore.

Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Enterprises reportedly sold over 62.5 lakh shares, aggregating to a 1.27% stake in ICICI Lombard for ₹ 1042 crore, revealed block deal data. The company held a 3.7% stake in the insurer as of December 2023.

In another deal, Fidelity Funds sold 2.2 lakh shares of the insurance company at ₹ 1666.35 per piece, totalling ₹37 crore.

ICICI Bank shares closed 3.12% higher at ₹1,085 apiece on NSE. ICICI Lombard shares, on the other hand, closed 3.67% lower at ₹1,648.85 apiece.