Akihiro Fukutome, global CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, is reportedly visiting India this week to consider picking up a sizeable stake in Yes Bank Ltd. According to a Mint report, SMBC could be looking at an investment of as much as USD 5 billion for a 51% stake in the private sector lender in India.
During his visit, Fukutome is likely to meet officials of the Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of India to discuss the prospects of acquisition. This comes after an April 2024 report that SMBC had expressed interest in buying a majority stake in Yes Bank.
Yes Bank, with a market capitalization of almost $9.1 billion based on Monday’s close, is on the radar of several global banks. SBI has been considering divestment since the expiry of a three-year lockin period; it currently holds 23.99% of Yes Bank ever since a government-led rescue in 2020.
The RBI reportedly wants a global bank to take a sizeable stake in Yes Bank, as happened in 2018 when Canada’s Fairfax Holdings Ltd. acquired a majority stake in Catholic Syrian Bank.
SMBC has mandated JPMorgan as its financial advisor and J Sagar Associates as its legal advisor for this proposed deal. Yes Bank has mandated Citigroup to shortlist potential promoters. Neither Yes Bank nor SMBC has made any official comment on the likely acquisition, and the fit-and-proper assessment with the RBI is yet to happen in the case of a new investor.
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Source: Moneycontrol
News Desk
