Cosmos Bank eyes seven coop banks for merger

Pune-based the Cosmos Co-operative Bank eyes seven cooperative banks for merger including five from Gujarat. The bank received 15 proposals for merger out of which eight were discarded.

"We have considered five cooperative banks in Gujarat and two in Andhra Pradesh for merger. The merger is expected by December 2006," said Mukund Abhyankar, chairman, Cosmos Bank. He further said that bank discarded eight proposals in which the loses of the bank were very high.

He also said that in Gujarat all five cooperative banks Cosmos targetting are located in Rajkot and Ankleshwar Cosmos is also planning to shift one of its branches in Maharashtra to Vapi.

Abhayankar said the Cosmos Bank would very soon offer demat services. "We will not only open demat accounts but we will also offer online trading service after merging with one of the leading broker," he said.

However, the bank has recently merged with Abad Bank in Ahmedabad and Unnati Cooperative Bank in Vadodara.

"Recently the Co-operative Bank of Ahmedabad, known as Abad Bank, which was having total 18 branches including 16 in Ahmedabad and two in Mumbai, has voluntarily merged with the Cosmos Bank," said Abhyankar.

The total deposits and advances of Abad Bank were approximately Rs 147 crore and Rs 65 crore respectively, he said.

"After merging with Abad Bank and Unnati Bank we have total 23 branches including one Cosmos bank branch in Surat," said Abhyankar.

He said the bank is present in five states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnatak and Madhya Pradesh.

"We have around 69 branches and 13 extension counters across five states with a set up of Rs 5,333 crore," said Abhyankar who added, " Our total deposits is of Rs 3,367 crore and advances is around Rs 1,966 crore till March 2006."