Banque Populaire Group sold its stake in Bank of Queensland for A$268 million, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch underwrote the deal at A$9.75 a share, before launching a bookbuild after market to test investor demand between A$9.75 and A$9.90. The deal priced at A$9.80, or a 2.3 per cent discount to the stock's closing price of A$10.03.
Banque Populaire acquired most of the shares in BOQ in early 2008. The French co-operative was Bank of Queensland's largest single shareholder, with a stake of 8.7 per cent held through BRED Banque Populaire.
DNCA Finance, another Paris-based asset manager, also sold down a 2.7 per cent stake in BOQ through Merrill Lynch.
"This transaction ensues from an asset reallocation decision as part of the normal management of our investment portfolio," Bruno Lorthiois, a spokesman for BRED told the WSJ.
Banque Populaire
also holds a three per cent stake in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.