David Pieris buys Sampath Bank stake from Ayenka for Rs.1.4bn

David Pieris Group yesterday picked up 12.5 million Sampath Bank shares, which is about 1 percent of the issued shares of Sri Lanka’s third largest private bank in terms of assets, for about Rs.1.4 billion.

The shares were sold by Ayenka Holdings, led by business leader Prabhash Subasinghe. The deal was executed as a single crossing at price of Rs.115 per share.

CT CLSA Securities handled the sell side, while Senfin Securities executed the purchase on behalf of the buyer.

As of March 31, 2025, Ayenka Holdings held 42.1 million Sampath Bank shares, or 3.6 percent, making it the bank’s sixth largest shareholder at the time. Ayenka has been gradually trimming its stake in the bank since early last year. Back then, it held around 117 million shares, or nearly 10 percent of the issued shares, and was the third largest shareholder.

Subsequent to yesterday’s transaction, Ayenka Holdings now has 29.6 million Sampath Bank shares, which accounts to about 2.5 percent.

The top three shareholders of Sampath Bank are businessman  Dhammika Perera, who holds a 15 percent stake through Vallibel One PLC; Rayynor Silva, with a 10 percent stake via his investment vehicle, Phantom Investments; and Indra Silva of Indra Traders fame, who owns 9.98 percent stake. For the three months ended March 31, 2025 (1Q25), Samapth Bank Group reported a net profit of Rs.8.9 billion, up 135 percent from a year ago, largely backed by fair value and trading gains.