Yes Bank In Talks With Emirates NBD, MUFG, Others For Majority Stake Sale
If the transaction goes through, it may lead to State Bank of India exiting Yes Bank eventually, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Yes Bank Ltd. is in talks with international investors to bring in new ones with a potential stake sale, according to three people in the know. One of United Arab Emirates' largest lenders, Emirates NBD, Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. are the likely front-runners in the race at present, the people said.
All three have submitted their preliminary expression of interests for a majority stake in Yes Bank, all three quoted above said.
Only international investors are expected in the race, as Yes Bank may not be interested in bringing in domestic investors at present, the third person said.
If the transaction goes through, it may lead to State Bank of India exiting Yes Bank eventually, the people added.
The development comes after in 2020, the State Bank of India-led consortium helped Yes Bank in recovering. The three-year lock-in period of investors ended in March 2023 and since then, SBI has been considering exiting as well, according to reports.
At present, SBI holds 26.13% stake in Yes Bank. Others like Life Insurance Corp. of India, HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and IDFC First Bank hold a combined 13.8% stake.
During the third quarter of the previous financial year, Yes Bank reported a 345% rise in net profit on a year-on-year basis to Rs 231.5 crore. Core income, or net interest income, for the quarter rose 2.3% year-on-year to Rs 2,017 crore.
Other income for the bank rose 12% from a year ago to Rs 1,194.6 crore.
Queries sent to Yes Bank, Emirates NBD, MUFG, SMBC and SBI did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report.
