Block trades in the Australian market just keep coming, with the latest involving Judo Bank.
Bain Capital and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC offloaded shares in Judo on Wednesday night, with the 71.6 million shares offered at between $1.83 to $1.89 in a book build, a discount of between 4.2 per cent and 1 per cent to their last traded price of $1.91 on Wednesday.
Working on the deal was investment bank Goldman Sachs.
The stake equated to 6.4 per cent.
Judo was co-founded by former chief executive Joseph Healy in 2016.
It listed successfully in 2021 with a $2.3bn market value, equating to 1.7 times its book value.
Its market value is now $2.1bn, with a dilemma for the bank being that it needs to offer generates deposit terms to attract customers.
The latest deal follows a raft of block trades in the market to cap off the end of the year, including China Investment Corporation’s $1.9bn selldown out of Goodman Group last week and Auckland Council’s $NZ1.3bn exit out of Auckland Airport being the two largest.
Shareholders are divesting stock to lock in profits for 2024 and ahead of the blackout period for reporting season in February while capitalising on the recent market highs.
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