SBI sets maximum investment limit for Yes Bank upto Rs.10,000 crore

Mumbai:State Bank of India, which can pick up 49 per cent stake in crisis-hit Yes Bank under the RBI's draft scheme of reconstruction, has set a maximum investment limit of Rs 10,000 crore for the lender, its chairman Rajnish Kumar said on saturday.

Announcing a draft scheme of reconstruction for cash-starved Yes Bank on friday, RBI said the strategic investor bank will have to acquire 49 per cent stake and it cannot reduce holding to below 26 per cent before three years from the date of capital infusion.

Kumar said if SBI becomes the sole investor in the bank and picks up 49 per cent stake, then the immediate investment requirement would be Rs 2,450 crore.

He added that they have already set the (investment) boundary of Rs 10,000 crore. the cap of Rs 10,000 crore is based on the assumption of higher capital requirement by the bank.

Yes Bank has been struggling to raise capital. it sought to raise USD 2 billion initially during this fiscal, which was then pruned to USD 1.2 billion as it could not rope in any investor.

Kumar said SBI has received the draft scheme of reconstruction and its investment and legal teams are doing their due diligence of the scheme.

"Once we complete our due diligence, we will go back to the RBI with our comments."
Rajnish Kumar, SBI chairman

The suggestions and comments on the scheme have to be given to the RBI by march 9, 2020, after which a final call will be taken by the central bank.

Kumar further said many potential investors have approached SBI after seeing the draft scheme of reconstruction of Yes Bank.

"For Yes Bank, people have reached out to us. These are all initial discussions. Our investment team will discuss with them and work out the possibilities," he said.

In a rare move, the RBI late on thursday (march 5) placed Yes Bank under a 30-day moratorium.