An Abu-Dhabi based bank is likely to purchase a significant stake in an Indian bank, UAE Ambassador to India Abdulnasser Alshaali told CNBC TV-18, triggering speculation the target is Yes Bank.
The ambassador did not disclose the parties involved, citing ‘market sensitivities’.
He said the investment could be valued at billions of dollars. However, certain unresolved issues need to be addressed first, the ambassador said.
“There are some matters that need to be sorted out for this to go ahead,” he told the channel. He, however, expressed optimism about resolving the issues.
In July, reports surfaced about First Abu Dhabi Bank being among the potential suitors for a $5 billion stake in Yes Bank.
Bloomberg said the lender was considering to buy as much as a 51 per cent stake in Yes Bank. The stake sale has also drawn interest from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
First Abu Dhabi Bank then said it was not considering any potential stake purchase in Yes Bank.
There were also a report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval for a 51 per cent stake sale in the bank. This was denied by the private sector lender.
``The bank would like to clarify that the contents of the said article are factually incorrect and purely speculative in nature. The RBI has not given any in principle approval as stated in the article and this clarification is issued by the company voluntarily to dispel the baseless media article’’, Yes Bank had said in a regulatory filing.
The report had claimed that a likely sale could value Yes Bank by around $ 10 billion and that the lender had appointed Citigroup to shortlist suitable candidate.
A clutch of bank hold stakes in Yes Bank. While State Bank of India holds 23.99 per cent, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Axis and Kotak Mahindra Bank have small stakes.
Apart from these lenders, the Life Insurance Corporation held 3.98 per cent during the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Yes Bank reported a 46.7 per cent growth in net profit to ₹502 crore for the April-June 2024 quarter.
