Bhandari appointed Centurion CEO

Centurion Bank announced the appointment of Shailendra Bhandari, managing director of Prudential-ICICI Asset Management Co, as chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank.

A Centurion Bank release said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved his appointment and Bhandari has accepted the offer. He is expected to join the bank by the month end.

The central bank is likely to give the final approval for fund infusion and restructuring plan of Centurion Bank soon.

Rana Talwar, former Standard Chartered global chief and promoter of Sabre Capital, which is leading a group of investors into Centurion, said, "Shailendra's experience in retail financial services business will provide us with an advantage in exploiting the potential of the retail sector."

Bhandari said, "With the financial retail space fast gaining momentum, our emphasis will be towards creating a nationwide, world-class, retail-focussed bank."

The tenure of the current chairman and managing director of Centurion Bank V Jankiraman, which came to an end on January 3, has been extended to February 29.

Bhandari began his career with Tata Administrative Services (TAS) and after a stint of two years moved to Citibank, where he worked for 13 years.

He was part of the core team that set up HDFC Bank in 1994. He was treasurer and executive director of HDFC Bank which he left in 1999 to work overseas on information technology consultancy in the field of finance & banking.

Sabre is looking at using the Centurion Bank umbrella for future takeovers in the country. The bank will primarily concentrate on the retail sector in the country.

The new investors of Centurion Bank including BankMuscat are waiting for the final approval of RBI to bring in Rs 154 crore as fresh capital.

Once RBI approves the deal, the board will announce a record date.

The par value of the share of the bank will then be reduced to Re 1 per share from the current Rs 10 a share.

Post capital infusion in the first phase, BankMuscat's stake in Centurion will be 33 per cent, existing investors ADB, Keppel and IFC will hold 11 per cent and Sabre Capital 5 per cent.

Keppel will bring in its contribution to the bank both through foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign institutional (FII) route. The total FII stake in the bank will become 18 per cent.

Post rights issue of Rs 65 crore in the second phase, BankMuscat's stake in the bank will fall to 26 per cent, while Sabre's stake will go up to 7 per cent and Keppel and the others will be at 11 per cent.