IndusInd Bank open to more acquisitions

IndusInd Bank , which announced a scheme of amalgamation by way of merger of Ashok Leyland Finance Limited (ALFL) last week, expressed keenness to pursue such alliances with either new private sector banks or non-banking finance corporation to grow inorganically to join the big league.

IndusInd Bank is also open to such tie-ups with foreign banks, and is currently in talks with a few south-east Asian banks, its managing director Bhaskar Ghose said here. He was briefing the media on the synergies and benefits arising out of ALFL's merger with IndusInd Bank, which be in effect from April 1, 2003.

Ghose said the the bank was not interested in the old sector private sector banks as the latter were saddled with a huge staff strength and overly concentrated in a geographical area.

The bank is open to acquisitions in the new private sector banking or NBFCs , as they are IT savvy, have lean staff strength and have all India presence. The main criteria for tie-ups is a strong retail brand image, he said. Explaining the bank's preference to pursuing inorganic growth he said it was an easy way to emerge a strong retail segment player in a short time.

Referring to the ongoing talks with a few foreign banks, Ghose said the bank was looking for a partner with some unique products and services to be offered in India. Its network in the countries where there is a significant NRI population would be an added attraction, he said.

On the overseas expansion, Ghose said the bank had recently become the third Indian bank to open office in Dubai. It would open the London office in the next two months, he added.

On the benefits of ALFL's merger with IndusInd, he explained that the former's large network of 644 outlets and a 3 lakh strong customer base would be available for the bank to increase its nation-wide presence and also cross-sell its products and services to ALFL customers.

ALFL's major presence in vehicle financing, covering commercial vehicles, multi-utility vehicles, cars, two-wheelers and consumer durables, would help the merged entity to de-risk its operations from sectoral fluctuations.

Ghose said IndusInd would soon complete the risk management exercise undertaken with KPMG help. The bank also would be Basle-II compliant shortly, he added. The bank's vice-president and local operations head, T Venkateswara Rao , also took part in the press meet.