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HDFC Bank-HDFC Merger: Deepak Parekh Won't Be On Merged Company Board

HDFC Ltd. Chairman, Deepak Parekh, will not be on the board of the merged entity.

Deepak Parekh  in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Deepak Parekh in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

HDFC Ltd. Chairman Deepak Parekh will not be on the board of the merged entity, once the home financier combines with its subsidiary HDFC Bank Ltd.

"The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) does not allow anyone above the age of 75 years to be on the board of a bank. I have already crossed that age so there's no way I can be on the board of the (merged) bank," Parekh said at a media briefing on April 4, after the merger was announced.

Parekh, 77, joined Housing Development Finance Corp. in 1978, a year after the housing finance business commenced. He is credited with having built India's leading financial services group. HDFC Bank was India's first private sector bank, set up in 1994. The group also has insurance, asset management and other business.

Commenting on HDFC's merger with HDFC Bank, Parekh said, "It's a merger of equals. It's a friendly merger. We are one. As the son grows older he acquires the father's business, that's all happening here."

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Sashi Jagdishan, CEO &amp; MD, HDFC Bank (left to right),&nbsp;Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC,&nbsp;Atanu Chakraborty, Chairman, HDFC Bank,&nbsp;Keki M. Mistry, Vice-Chairman &amp; CEO of HDFC at a media briefing on Apr. 4, 2022 to announce the HDFC - HDFC Bank merger. (Photo: BloombergQuint)</p></div>

Sashi Jagdishan, CEO & MD, HDFC Bank (left to right), Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC, Atanu Chakraborty, Chairman, HDFC Bank, Keki M. Mistry, Vice-Chairman & CEO of HDFC at a media briefing on Apr. 4, 2022 to announce the HDFC - HDFC Bank merger. (Photo: BloombergQuint)

After 45 years of housing finance... After 9 million homes provided to Indians... We have to find a home for ourselves. And we have found it within the family and in our own bank."
Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC

HDFC is India's largest mortgage company and along with affiliates owns a 25.8% stake in HDFC Bank, the country's largest private sector bank. After the merger, HDFC Bank will have no promoter and HDFC shareholders will own close to 41% of its equity.

The bank will continue to be led by its current management, and Sashidhar Jagdishan will remain the managing director and chief executive.