At least three lenders which had invested in Yes Bank as a part of the deal to rescue the cash-strapped private bank have pared part of their stake in less than a month of their investment, the latest shareholding data on stock exchanges reveals.
It was on March 5 that the Reserve Bank of India superseded the board of Yes Bank and imposed a moratorium on deposit withdrawals. Such an action against the fifth-largest private sector bank in the country sent shockwaves. However, within days, a rescue deal led by India’s largest lender State Bank of India and several other private lenders was put in place by the Reserve Bank of India.
As a part of the deal, SBI along with seven private sector lenders, including Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), ICICI Bank, Bandhan Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank and IDFC First Bank, invested Rs 10,000 crore in Yes Bank. SBI made the largest investment picking a 48.21 per cent stake in the troubled private sector lender.
All these banks were alloted equity at Rs 10 a share and 75 per cent of their shareholding would be locked-in for three years. In effect, they are well within regulations to sell part or whole of the remaining 25 per cent shareholding any time. Yes Bank’s shareholding pattern reveals that three banks have sold some of those shares between March 14 and March 31. On Thursday, Yes Bank shares closed at Rs 28.30, down 4.4 per cent, even as the broader BSE Sensex closed 484 points or 1.5 per cent higher at 31,863.08 points.
Federal Bank invested Rs 300 crore to get 30 crore shares of Yes Bank, it had notified on March 14. Shareholding data of Yes Bank, shows as of March 31, Federal Bank held 24.13 crore shares of Yes Bank. That means it sold 5.86 crore shares. Its shareholding now stands at 1.92 per cent.
Similarly, Kotak Mahindra Bank had picked up 50 crore shares of Yes Bank, investing Rs 500 crore. It sold around 4.72 crore shares and now holds a little over 45.27 crore shares of Yes Bank. Kotak Bank currently holds 3.61 per cent stake in the lender.
Another private lender IDFC First Bank invested Rs 250 crore in Yes Bank to pickup 25 crore shares on March 15. It sold 4.02 crore shares and as of March 31 held a little over 20.97 crore shares, or 1.67 per cent stake.
The other lenders which picked up a stake in Yes Bank have not sold any shares. ICICI Bank, which had purchased 100 crore shares, has additionally bought 2 lakh shares of Yes Bank, data shows. SBI remains the largest shareholder, with a stake of 48.21 per cent. ICICI Bank and HDFC hold 7.97 per cent stake each and Axis Bank has 4.78 per cent shares of Yes Bank. Bandhan Bank holds 2.39 per cent stake.
Under the reconstruction scheme, even retail investors holding 100 shares or more of Yes Bank, cannot sell 75 per cent of that for three years.
