Block deal takes sheen off Patni

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Information technology company Patni Computer Systems witnessed a block deal, with nearly 3.4 per cent of the company's shares changing hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday.

According to data available from the BSE website, Goldman Sachs Investment bought 8,77,000 shares at Rs 360 per share, HSBC Global Invst Fund picked up 17,03,506 shares at the same price and General Atlantic Mauritiu was the seller of 41 lakh shares at Rs 360.13 per share.

The deal size was approximately worth Rs 147.65 crore. The stock, on the back of a huge block deal, ended 2.78 per cent down at Rs 359.95 as the block deal was executed at a discount to Thursday's closing price of Rs 369.80.

Analysts said with the IT sector in the limelight, there is huge amount of interest among foreign institutional investors to pick up stakes in quality companies either through private placements or through block deals at a predetermine price.

Patni focuses on domains such as financial services, insurance and manufacturing. General Electric is the company's biggest customer.