Carlyle, the private equity investor, on Tuesday exited SBI Cards and Payments Services (SBI Cards) by selling its entire stake through a block deal.

Carlyle held 2,91,73,488 shares in SBI Cards which translated to an equity stake of 3.09 per cent in the State Bank of India (SBI) subsidiary. This was held via CA Rover Holdings.

On Tuesday, CA Rover Holdings sold 261,73,488 shares of SBI Cards at Rs 851.73 per share, yielding Rs 2,229 crore. It is understood to have sold the rest of the stake on the BSE. More than 56 lakh shares of SBI Cards were transacted on the BSE, which was significantly higher than the two-week average. The combined sale is valued at nearly Rs 2,500 crore.

The private equity major had picked up the stake when GE Capital exited the joint venture. It had then acquired 26 per cent. However, Carlyle brought down its stake through the initial public offering of SBI Cards first in 2020 and later pared the shareholding. In September 2021, it had sold 3.4 per cent, which was picked up by Societe Generale.

Shares of SBI Cards, the pure-play credit card issuer, on Tuesday cracked on the Carlyle sale. At the BSE, it ended 4.32 per cent lower at Rs 838.90. It has a market capitalisation of Rs 79,122 crore.

During the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, SBI Cards had posted total revenues of Rs 3,140 crore.