After India Cements, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), the US-based asset management and security trading company which has assets worth $21.8 trillion, is buying into the Pratap Reddy promoted Apollo Hospitals Enterprises (Apollo).
The US fund had picked up close to 9% stake in the country?s largest hospital chain in tranches from open market. The buy would make BNY Mellon the fourth largest stakeholder in the wellness chain after promoters, the Reddy family, the Parkway Group of Singapore, and Apax Partners.
According to information available with FE, BNY Mellon along with its various associate entities, had bought 1,09,82,957 shares of Apollo Hospitals in tranches from open market. This translates into approximately 8.81% of the total outstanding shares of the company. As of the quarter ended December last, the US fund was not holding any stake in the hospital chain, according to the information made available with Apollo to stock exchanges. In a regulatory filing, Apollo had earlier said BNY Mellon and the entities associated with the fund had bought 64,82,957 shares of Apollo Hospitals through open market purchases. This translates into approximately 5.2% of the equity capital of the hospital chain.
BNY Mellon and its associates further bought 45 lakh shares of Apollo in two tranches of 15 lakh and 30 lakh shares at a price of Rs 455 in two separate deals struck on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Apollo stock closed on the NSE on Friday at Rs 455.50, after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 475.90 and a low of 455. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 849.95 and a low of Rs 408.
As of the quarter ended December last, the promoter family was holding 33.24% stake in the wellness chain followed by the Singapore hospital chain which holds 12.1% and Apax partners 11.3%. Apollo Hospitals has a paid up equity of Rs 61.78 crore and the stock carries a face value of Rs 10.
Apollo is in the process raising funds to the tune of close to Rs 1,000 crore by way of preferential allotments to promoters, qualified institutional placement and warrants. The company had got the shareholders nod to issue 3,276,922 warrants convertible into equity shares to Prathap C. Reddy at a price yet to be determined as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) guidelines.
Incorporated in 2007, by merging Mellon Financial Corporation and The Bank of New York Company, BNY Mellon is one of the leading asset management and securities services company. It has $21.8 trillion in assets under its custody and manages $1 trillion worth of funds.
