American buyout major Blackstone on Friday sold a 23 per cent stake in Essel Propack, one of the largest manufacturers of laminated tubes used by FMCG and pharma companies, for a little over Rs 1,860 crore through open market transactions.

The shares were picked up by Axis Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund and DSP Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley, Neuberger Berman and Nomura.

According to BSE data, Blackstone, through its entity Epsilon Bidco PTE Ltd, sold a total of 7,25,80,090 shares, translating into a 23 per cent stake, of Essel Propack.

The shares were sold on an average price of Rs 256.5, valuing the transaction at Rs 1,861.68 crore. After the stake-sale, Blackstone’s holding in the company has come down to 52 per cent.

Last year, Blackstone had acquired a 75 per cent stake in Essel Propack for Rs 3,211 crore.

Essel Propack’s Ashok Goel is the younger brother of Subash Chandra, the promoter of financially troubled Essel Group that has an indebtedness of Rs 17,174 crore.