The Rana Kapoor family on Thursday trimmed its holding in Yes Bank when Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd (MCPL), part of the promoter group, sold a 2.3 per cent shareholding in the lender.

The transaction was executed at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Bulk deal data from the exchange showed MCPL sold 5.80 crore shares at an average price of Rs 58.16 apiece totaling Rs 337 crore. These shares were picked up by Tower Research Capital Markets India Pvt Ltd.

In a press statement, MCPL said the proceeds will be used to prepay a substantial portion of the outstanding non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of MCPL subscribed by various schemes of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Company (RNAM).

MCPL had in April 2018 placed rated, zero coupon NCDs amounting Rs 1,160 crore with RNAM. It added that these funds were used by MCPL for the incubation of new-age start-up businesses.

After the latest transaction, done to de-leverage MCPL, it said the promoter group had made total prepayments (including interest) to NCD holders of Rs 722 crore till date which is well ahead of the scheduled maturity date of April 2021.

Further, it resulted in a reduction in total promoter and promoter group ownership in the bank to 15.7 per cent (in compliance with RBI’s regulatory level of 15 per cent) compared with 18 per cent earlier.

“With the sole intention of reducing debt of the promoter holding company — MCPL — owned by my three daughters, it was decided to bring down our family ownership in Yes Bank to 7.4 per cent,” Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor said.

Meanwhile, shares of Yes Bank crashed almost 16 per cent on the bourses on Thursday after Moody’s said the Altico default may be credit negative for banks given their significant exposure to the real estate sector.

The agency said Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank have the largest direct exposure to commercial real estate and will be susceptible to asset quality difficulties if the sector continues to slow down.

On the BSE, the scrip cracked 15.52 per cent to close at Rs 54.15.