Apollo Hospital Block Deal: Promoter Suneeta Reddy Offloads 1.3% Stake Worth Rs 1,489 Crore

Apollo Hospital Enterprises Ltd. promoter group represented by Suneeta Reddy Pottipatti has offloaded 18.97 lakh equity shares worth Rs 1,489 crore on Friday via block deal. The promoter offloaded 1.3% stake in the hospital chain, with Morgan Stanley as the sole bookrunner for the deal.

The promoter group has sold shares in the company through a block deal at a price of Rs 7,850 per share, a discount of approximately 1% to the closing price yesterday. Post this transaction the promoter and promoter group's shareholding in the company will stand reduced to 28% from the current 29.3%, as per an exchange filing on Friday. According to BSE, Suneeta Reddy holds 48.34 lakh shares representing 3.36% stake in the company.

Post this transaction, the pledged holdings of the promoter or promoter group will reduce from 13.1% to approximately 2%. The sale proceeds will be utilised to pare down outstanding debt of the promoter group, as per the filing.

The promoter group continues to stay fully focused on the growth of Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Health Co and Apollo Health and Lifestyle-to create long-term value in each vertical reiterating their commitment towards high-quality healthcare for every Indian, it added.

The company noted that, the promoter group does not have any plan of any further stake reduction in the foreseeable future. Shares of Apollo Hospital were trading 0.32% higher at Rs 7,951 apiece on the NSE, compared to a 0.64% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 12:44 p.m. The company's shares have risen 16.80% in the last 12 months and 9.36% year-to-date.

Out of 31 analysts tracking the company, 27 maintains a 'buy' rating, three recommend a 'hold' and one suggests 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target of Rs 8,570.90 implies an upside of 7.8%.