The deal places the bank at Rs 67,411 crore, with SMBC buying shares at Rs 21.5 each.
The bank shares already jumped almost 10% during the last trading day on Friday, closing at Rs 20 after news of the deal surfaced. Both SBI and Yes Bank boards gave their nod to the transaction in meetings held late last week, with announcements made to stock exchanges after market hours.
Yes Bank-SMBC deal
As part of the agreement, the State Bank of India (SBI) will be selling 13.19% of its 24% holding for Rs 8,889 crore. Meanwhile, seven private banks: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank, and Bandhan Bank, will jointly offload 6.81% of their stake for Rs 4,594 crore.
The SMBC will also gain the right to appoint two directors to Yes Bank’s board. However, existing private equity investors Advent International and Carlyle have chosen to retain their current holdings for now.
This deal comes just five years after Yes Bank was rescued by the Reserve Bank of India in March 2020. Back then, SBI and several private banks stepped in with a Rs 10-per-share investment to prevent the lender’s collapse.
SMBC executives called the move a strategic step in expanding their presence in India, describing it as a major move for the global growth market.
Despite Yes Bank’s earlier denial of stake sale talks in a May 6 exchange filing, the deal is now official, marking a new chapter in the bank’s recovery and future direction.
