Rana Kapoor may extend Olive branch to Madhu

The sparring promoters of Yes Bank are inching towards a truce, but there was no clarity late on Tuesday over the exact status of the talks with one camp claiming it's at an advanced stage and the other being not on the same page.

Sources close to Rana Kapoor on Tuesday evening claimed that settlement talks are at an "advanced stage" with the draft consent terms under discussion which speaks of recognising both the groups as "equals", while the Madhu Kapur family maintaining that the "discussions are still on".

"It is an over five-year-old battle and it will take time for a consensus to emerge. We are not anywhere near a consensus now," sources close to the Madhu Kapur family said on Tuesday.

Rana Kapoor, the managing director and chief executive till an RBI-mandated January 31, 2019 deadline, and the entities linked to his family own 10.7 per cent in the private sector bank, while Madhu Kapur, the widow of the founder chairman and the victim of the 26/11 terror attack Ashok Kapur, owns 9.8 per cent.

The developments come within hours of a rating downgrade by global rating agency Moody's Investors Service citing concerns on corporate governance and a fortnight ahead of the crucial board meeting on December 13, which may recommend a new CEO and non-executive chairman.

According to sources close to Kapoor, whose new-threeyear term was curtailed by RBI in mid-September, progress has been made following an "exchange of notes" last Thursday with Madhu Kapur. Ten specific

pointers have been exchanged, they add.

They also say the agreement will include withdrawal of counter-suits filed by both the parties against each other in the Bombay High Court. But the Madhu Kapur camp has denied any such development saying, "consent terms will have to be finalised first and placed before the court, only after that the suits can be withdrawn."

The finer points of a possible pact are being discussed right now in details, they said and explained that the issue of voting at the December 13 board meet can happen only if an agreement is reached by then. The board meeting may also decide on crucial appointments, including recommending a non-executive chairman and three non-executive directors to fill the vacancies created by the resignations in recent past.