YES Bank looks to raise ₹10,000 cr via FPO

nMUMBAI: YES Bank Ltd plans to soon launch a follow-on public offering (FPO) to raise as much as ₹10,000 crore, said three people aware of the development.

The private lender, which was rescued recently by a consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI), is likely to file an offer document for the FPO as early as this week, said the first person cited above on condition of anonymity.

“If things go as planned, then the offer document for the FPO will be filed this week itself. Bank of America, Citi, Kotak and Axis Capital are advising the bank on the FPO,” the person said.

Multiple emailed queries sent to YES Bank did not elicit a response. The second person cited above said YES Bank has approached market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India to allow it to execute the FPO under the so-called fast track route, which will help it to tap the market immediately.

The timeline for filing the offer document also hinges on this approval from Sebi, the person added.

“The quantum of funds that they will raise will depend on whether they can do the FPO under the fast track route or if they have to go through the regular process. If they are allowed to do a fast track FPO, they could launch the deal this month itself. Else it could take anywhere from two to three months at least under the regular FPO process,” he said.

nMUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches across five locations in Mumbai linked to travel company Cox and Kings Ltd in connection with the money laundering case involving YES Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor, said an ED official.

“The searches were conducted at the office of Cox and Kings, residence of key officials including promoter—ajay Ajit Peter Kerkar, independent director Pesi Patel, chief financial officer Abhishek Goenka and auditor Anil Khandelwal and Naresh Jain of Cox and Kings Group in Mumbai in YES Bank fraud case of ₹3,642 crore,” said the ED official, requesting anonymity.

This was the first such exercise by the probe agency since the lockdown came into effect on March 25.