YES Bank SMBC: Shares of YES Bank Ltd are in focus on Monday, August 25, as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has received RBI nod for buying 24.99 per cent stake in the private bank through a secondary stake purchase.
The central bank has clarified that SMBC would not be classified as a promoter of the bank.
YES Bank shares closed at Rs 19.28 apiece on Friday. They are up 8.38 per cent in the past six months, but down 1.78 per cent year-to-date.
To recall, YES Bank had on May 9 suggested that its board had approved a share purchase agreement between State Bank of India (SBI) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for transfer of equity shares. Under the SPA, the SMBC had agreed to acquire 4,134,404,897 equity shares representing 13.19 per cent of the equity share capital of the bank from the SBI, subject to satisfaction of customary conditions. Besides, SPAs were signed for an aggregate of 6.81 per cent stake from seven other shareholders of the bank. They include Axis Bank Ltd, Bandhan Bank Ltd, Federal Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, IDFC First Bank Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
As of June 30, a total of 12 banks owned 33.70 per cent stake in YES Bank. SBI accounted for 23.96 per cent stake in the private sector alone.
“In this regard, we are pleased to inform that SMBC has received the approval of the Reserve Bank of India to acquire up to 24.99% of the paid-up share capital/ voting rights of the Bank vide letter dated August 22, 2025. This approval is valid for one year from the date of this letter,” YES Bank said.
The aforesaid approval granted by RBI is subject to other conditions including compliance with the relevant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI’s Master Direction and Guidelines on Acquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Companies dated January 16, 2023 (as amended from time to time), provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and other applicable laws and terms including lock in, any subsequent transactions being subject to conditions and RBI’s decision, etc.
“Further, the consummation of the above referred ‘Proposed Transaction’ is subject to approval from Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) and customary conditions precedents as mentioned in the agreements referred in our intimation dated May 09, 2025,” YES Bank said.