China's Tencent sells Rs 416 crore worth of shares in India's Policybazaar parent

On Thursday, Tencent Cloud Europe BV, an affiliate of the Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent, sold a 0.73% stake in PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar. 

The transaction took place through an open market deal on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to the bulk deal data available with the NSE, Tencent sold 33 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 1,259.71 per share. The sale amounts to a total transaction value of Rs 416 crore. The buyers of these shares were not immediately known.

How did this sale affect Tencent's Holdings in PB Fintech?

Prior to this sale, Tencent held a 6.26% stake in PB Fintech as of the end of March 2024.

The recent offloading of shares will reduce Tencent's ownership in the company by 5.5%. It's noteworthy that Tencent had previously sold a 2.1% stake in PB Fintech in May 2023 for Rs 562 crore.

At that time, the deal price was Rs 596.66 per share. Despite these sales, PB Fintech's stock has shown significant growth, more than doubling since the previous sale. 

Current shareholding pattern of PB Fintech

According to the latest shareholding pattern, 99.41% of PB Fintech is owned by the public.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) hold a substantial 41.4% stake in the company, while domestic institutional investors, including mutual funds and insurance companies, collectively hold about 15%.

The remaining stake is owned by company employees. PB Fintech has demonstrated robust financial performance in 2024. The company reported a 37% increase in premiums, amounting to Rs 15,875 crore. 

Additionally, PB Fintech made a profit in fiscal year 2024 (FY24), with revenue increasing by 34% to Rs 3,438 crore.