Temasek ups pie in ICICI Bank to 7.28 per cent

Temasek Holdings has raised its stake in ICICI Bank to 7.28 per cent through its affiliate "" Allamanda Investments Pte Ltd "" a foreign institutional investor (FII) registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

This will take the Singapore government's total holding in ICICI Bank to about 13 per cent - considering its other state investment arm, GIIC, has 5.57 per cent.

Temasek informed the Singapore Exchange on Monday that it had acquired additional stake in the Indian private sector bank.

Temasek Holdings bought 34.1 lakh shares in the open market last week for Rs 115 crore, raising its holding from the earlier 6.72 per cent.

The FII has been steadily increasing stake in the private sector bank since it acquired 5.2 per cent stake in ICICI Bank in December.

It is reported that the stake was acquired from Orcasia, the investment arm of the Canada-based Lombard Insurance Company.

It is, however, not clear if the latest acquisition by Temasek was a deal between two FIIs or whether the Singapore government outfit bought the shares directly from the domestic market.

It might be recalled that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had last Friday barred further purchase of ICICI Bank shares by foreigners without its prior approval since the overall foreign holding had crossed 72 per cent.

Total foreign holding has been capped at 74 per cent for private sector banks. Of this, FII holding in ICICI Bank has crossed 45 per cent, with American Depository Receipts (ADRs) at around 30 per cent. Non-resident Indians and foreign banks hold about 0.15 per cent of the bank's capital.

Meanwhile, Temasek Holdings is reportedly planning a maiden offshore bond issue to raise up to $ 3 billion some time in the second quarter of the calendar year.

Temasek has bought banks in Indonesia and India, and is expected to use the proceeds from the proposed debt issue to fund further acquisitions overseas. The state investment arm has indicated that it will seek further opportunities in India.