RBL Bank's long-pending IPO proposal gets Sebi clearance

Private sector lender RBL Bank has received capital markets regulator Sebi's approval for its long-pending IPO for which it had filed draft papers nearly a year ago.
The bank, which had filed draft papers with Sebi in June last year, seeking approval to float IPO, received clearance from the regulator on July 27, according to the latest update.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) withheld approval to RBL's IPO as the regulator was examining past violation by the private sector lender.
RBL's IPO plans was hanging in balance for a long time due to the outstanding cases.
The approval comes after Sebi settled an outstanding case against the lender for alleged violation of disclosure norms with regard to an earlier issuance of shares to select investors for over Rs 600 crore.

The settlement involved payment of Rs 47.6 lakh towards 'monetary settlement charges', as also a commitment by the bank that it would give an exit opportunity in its IPO to the investors to whom shares were issued earlier in rights issues.

As per the draft papers, the IPO comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,100 crore and offer for sale of up to 17,568,408 scrips by existing shareholders including Beacon India Private Equity Fund and GPE (India) Ltd.
RBL Bank had reportedly raised Rs 488 crore in a pre-IPO round of fund raising last year.
The proceeds of the IPO would be used to shore-up the equity capital base, to meet future capital requirements and to ensure compliance with Basel III and other Reserve Bank's guidelines.

According to RBL Bank (formerly Ratnakar Bank Ltd), the listing of equity shares will enhance the visibility and brand name among existing and potential customers.
Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Axis Capital, Citigroup Global Markets India and Morgan Stanley India Company are the global coordinators, while HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, IDFC Securities, IIFL Holdings and SBI Capital Markets are the book running lead managers of the issue.