Australia-based ANZ has agreed to sell 16.5% ($0.81) of its issued capital in AmBank at a price of MYR3.85 per share.

This gives the sale a total of $444m and will reduce ANZ’s shareholding in AmBank from 21.7% to 5.2%.

Furthermore, while this is part of the ANZ plan to simplify, it will keep one nominated director on the AmBank board.

ANZ’s capital management considerations will include the capital release from this sale, subject to regulatory approvals.

Selling stakes

Earlier in 2024, EQT Private Capital Asia (EQT) sold its remaining 26.7% ownership in CMS Info Systems (CMS) which is listed on the Indian stock exchanges, in a $187m block transaction.

With its main office located in Mumbai, India, CMS serves as a notable cash management firm in the country.

It offers a range of services including ATM cash management, retail cash management, cash-in-transit, ATM managed services, banking automation, and AI-powered remote monitoring solutions.

With more than 25,000 staff members and associates, CMS serves over 150,000 corporate commerce locations in 97% of India’s districts.

On the other hand, the UK Government and British Business Bank have taken an equity stake in real estate investment platform Shojin.

This has been achieved through the conversion of a pandemic-era loan facilitated by the Future Fund scheme.

The fund was launched by the British Business Bank in 2020 to support emerging businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. It matched new private investors on a pound-for-pound basis (up to £5m [$6.35m]) and if a business raised more than the initial funding through subsequent financing, the debt and interest automatically converted to equity.

In December 2020, the British Business Bank, via the Future Fund, invested £860,000 into Shojin. This was, in turn, matched by individual investors as part of £1.72m funding round.