U.S. General Atlantic, Varde near to buy $496 mln stake in PNB Housing

U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic Partners and peer Varde Partners are nearing to purchasing 22 percent stake in Indian home loan provider PNB Housing Finance.

General Atlantic and Varde are buying the stake from Indian banking and financial services company Punjab National Bank for about 3,500 crore rupees ($496 million).

Existing backer General Atlantic is expected to buy an additional 12 percent stake in PNB Housing to take its stake to around 22 percent, while Varde is anticipated to buy a 10 percent stake.

Punjab National Bank, which owns 32.79 percent stake in PNB, has decided to stay invested with a 10.7 percent stake and choose two buyers instead of selling the entire block to one suitor.