Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank is in the process of selling a 15% stake to AIF Capital Development, a Mauritius-registered private equity firm. It is seeking the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) permission for the same. The RBI’s policy on shareholding in private sector banks allows any single entity to own a maximum of 10% stake in a bank. Catholic Syrian Bank hopes to get clearance from the RBI to have a single shareholder owning more than 10% stake as has been allowed in Yes Bank (Rabobank - 19.29%) and Centurion Bank of Punjab (BankMuscat – 17.76%). AIF Capital Development has already obtained clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The government’s guidelines allow up to 74% foreign ownership in banks.
The bank plans to make a preferential allotment to AIF Capital to fulfill the central bank’s requirement that every private sector bank must have a minimum net worth of Rs. 300 crores. The bank had a net worth of Rs. 215.58 crores as on March 31, 2006. The Kerala-based bank has a network of 334 branches and extension counters, which include 5 NRI branches, 5 SSI branches, 5 industrial finance branches and 4 service branches.
Read the Business Standard article.
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