Tencent sells 2.1% stake in PB Fintech for Rs 1,668 Cr; SBI MF, SocGen pick up stake

Chinese conglomerate Tencent on Thursday sold a 2.1% stake in PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar, for Rs 1,668 crore via open market transactions, while SBI Mutual Fund (MF) and Societe Generale (SocGen) picked up stake in the company.

Tencent Cloud Europe, an affiliate of Shenzhen-based technology multinational Tencent, offloaded 97 lakh shares in 15 tranches, amounting to a 2.13% stake in PB Fintech, as per the block deal data available on the BSE.

The shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 1,719.75 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 1,668.15 crore.

After the share sale, Tencent's sharehdoling in PB Fintech has declined to 2.13% from 4.26%.

Meanwhile, SBI MF, Axis MF, Mirae Asset MF, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance, Europacific Growth Fund, Goldman Sachs Singapore, Copthall Mauritius Investment, Ghisallo Master Fund LP, SocGen, and British hedge fund Marshall Wace were among the buyers of PB Fintech's shares.

Shares of PB Fintech fell 0.71% to close at Rs 1,724.85 per scrip on the BSE.

PB Fintech operates online insurance platform PolicyBazaar and credit comparison portal PaisaBazaar. Both platforms address large and highly underpenetrated online insurance and lending markets.

In June this year, Tencent sold shares of PB Fintech for Rs 415 crore. Prior to that, Tencent offloaded a 1.2% stake in the company for Rs 664 crore in May.