SBI to buy 49% stake in Yes Bank for `2,450 cr

NEW DELHI: A day after the Reserve Bank of India suggested the possibility of the State Bank of India (SBI) acquiring a 49 per cent equity stake in Yes bank, the state lender said 245-crore shares at a price of Rs 10 each for Rs 2,450 crore in the beleaguered bank will be issued.

These shares will translate into a 49 per cent stake into the reconstructed bank, as suggested by the RBI. SBI shall not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital, it said in a statement.

It further added that the new board of Yes Bank will have CEO and MD, non-executive chairman and non-executive directors. “All the employees of the reconstructed bank shall continue in its service with the same remuneration and on the same terms and conditions… at least for a period of one year,” SBI said.

State-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation may also consider joining RBI’S efforts to rescue Yes Bank. This can help to increase capital infusion under the draft scheme to rescue Yes Bank designed by the RBI.

The Enforcement Directorate, on the other hand, continued questioning Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in connection with a money-laundering probe against him and others, officials said on Saturday.

They said Kapoor was brought to the agency’s office in the Ballard Estate area Saturday afternoon. The questioning of Kapoor is continuing, they said.

An ED source said the central probe agency has expanded its probe and searches are being carried out at the residential premises of all three daughters — Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor and Radha Kapoor. The source added that the residential premises of Kapoor’s daughters are being searched as they were alleged beneficiaries of the scam.

Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a media conference on Friday: “The exposure of Yes Bank to some of the very stressed corporates has been before 2014. These are public domain names and I am not violating any customer privacy — Anil Ambani (Group), Essel Group, DHFL, IL&FS (and) Vodafone are some of the very stressed corporates to whom Yes Bank has been exposed.”

In the process, she confirmed on record that firms of Anil Ambani and Chandra (Essel Group chairman) were among those who had taken loans from Yes Bank and drew fresh attention to the charges of crony capitalism that have been dogging the Modi government for the past few years.