By Nesil Staney
British hedge fund Marshall Wace LLP, one of the world’s largest with $71-billion assets, is on a profit-booking spree in India. It sold shares of ICICI Bank, Schaeffler India, UNO Minda, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Eternal on the National Stock Exchange via block deals on Wednesday.
The sale emanated from the portfolio of Eureka Fund, a sub-fund within the Marshall Wace Investment Strategies umbrella fund. The block of Eternal was the biggest at Rs 155.3 crore, followed by M&M at Rs 108.5 crore. The value of shares sold in Schaeffler India, UNO Minda and ICICI Bank stood at Rs 34 crore, Rs 18 crore and Rs 17 crore, respectively.
French financial services giant Societe Generale purchased all five blocks. Additionally, it bought 920,284 shares of Marksans Pharma from global healthcare investor Orbimed Asia IV Mauritius at Rs 250 each on Wednesday. So far this month, Societe has purchased 12 stocks through bulk and block deals. Others were Suzlon Energy, Premier Energies, ZF Commercial, Choice International, Indegene and Bajaj Finserv.
The Eureka Fund previously carried out block deals in August 2024, when it sold off shares of Shriram Finance, Linde, Schaeffler and Canara Bank, and purchased PB Fintech.
The fund does not have more than 1% holding in any Indian stock.
Marshall Wace was founded by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace in 1997 and incubated by George Soros. The hedge fund is 25% owned by private equity major Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).