State Bank of India (SBI) has divested a 13.18% stake in Yes Bank Limited to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). This transaction represents the largest cross-border investment in India’s banking sector.
State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday announced the successful completion of the divestment of a 13.18% (approximately) stake in Yes Bank Limited (YBL) to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the state-owned lender said in a statement. SMBC is a Japanese multinational financial services company belonging to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and is amongst the leading foreign banks in India. SMFG is the second largest Banking Group in Japan with total assets of around USD 2.0 trillion.
SBI became the largest shareholder of YBL in March 2020 under the Yes Bank Limited Reconstruction Scheme, 2020, as notified by the Central Government.
Subsequently, SBI had also acquired additional shares as part of follow-on public offer by YBL in July 2020.
Post the aforesaid divestment, SBI will continue to remain a shareholder in YBL with a shareholding of 10.8 per cent (approximately) of YBL shares (Residual shareholding).
The partial stake sale by SBI and other shareholder Banks in YBL to SMBC represents the largest cross-border investment in the Indian banking sector, the SBI said in the report. The transaction has received the necessary regulatory and statutory approvals including from the Reserve Bank of India and the Competition Commission of India.
SBI Chairman, Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said, “Yes Bank restructuring plan by RBI in 2020 was an innovative, first of its kind public sector – private sector partnership that was fully supported and facilitated by Government of India. We are incredibly proud of the journey we have shared with Yes Bank in supporting their transformation since we came onboard as the major shareholder in 2020.”
SBI and the other selling Shareholder Banks were advised by SBI Capital Markets Limited as their financial advisor and S&R Associates as their legal advisor, the state-owned bank SBI said in the statement.
State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees.
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