Centurion likely to rope in Bhandari of Pru-ICICI

Shailendra Bhandari, managing director of Prudential-ICICI Asset Management Company, is tipped to join Centurion Bank as managing director.

The Reserve Bank of India's approval for Bhandari's appointment is expected soon. The central bank is also likely to give the final approval for the infusion and restructuring plan of Centurion Bank over the next few weeks.

Former Standard Chartered global chief and promoter of Sabre Capital, Rana Talwar, will be made chairman of the bank. Sabre Capital had appointed Egon Zandar an executive search firm for finding a suitable candidate.

Bhandari topped the short list and the bank sent his name for the RBI approval sometime back.

The tenure of the current chairman and managing director of Centurion Bank V Jankiraman will end on January 3.

He is likely to receive an extension of few months to ensure smooth transition of power when the new management takes over.

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.

Once Bhandari leaves the ICICI fold, Pankaj Razdarn deputy CEO of Prudential ICICI may be considered to takeover from him, sources said.

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 FDI and FII route. The total FII stake in the bank will be at 18 per cent.