RBI Allows Carlyle And Advent To Pick Up Yes Bank Stake, Conditions Apply
Yes Bank said that investors were evaluating the conditions, without specifying what those were.
Private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd. has received a conditional approval from the Reserve Bank of India for its fund-raising plans.
In a notice to exchanges, the lender said that private equity firms Carlyle Group and Advent International are allowed to pick up 9.99% stake each; however, the regulator has laid down certain conditions.
The bank said that the investors were evaluating the conditions without specifying what those were.
"The investors and the bank will engage with the RBI to seek an early resolution of the conditions to procure the final approval on this matter," Yes Bank said.
In July, Yes Bank announced that Carlyle and Advent were to invest Rs 8,898 crore, i.e., $1.1 billion, to pick up 10% stake each in the bank. The fundraise would happen through a combination of the issuance of equity shares and warrants in favour of the two investors.
Yes Bank had last raised Rs 15,000 crore from a clutch of investors through a follow-on public offer in July 2020, just months after the bank was put under a reconstruction process by the Reserve Bank of India in March 2020.
India's largest lender, State Bank of India, is currently the biggest shareholder of Yes Bank, with a 30% stake. Under the reconstruction scheme, approved in March 2020, all shareholders having more than 100 shares of the bank were subject to a three-year lock-in period, wherein they had to hold on to 75% of their holdings for this period. This lock-in period ends in March 2023.