Rabobank to maintain Yes Bank stake at 20% post IPO

Rabobank International Holding which holds 20 per cent in Yes Bank would like to maintain its stake unchanged even after the bank's proposed maiden public issue.

Rabobank will restore its holding to 20 per cent after the IPO through open market purchases, said Yes Bank managing director Rana Kapoor. He was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to launch its debit card.

The bank plans to raise around Rs 350 crore through its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO is scheduled to open in the third week this month. The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) approval is awaited.

"We are waiting for the Sebi approval," said Kapoor. "We believe it's at a fairly advanced stage of clearance. Once the approval is given, the bank has three months to evaluate the market conditions and launch the IPO," said Rana.

The IPO will lead to 25 per cent dilution in shareholding. Post IPO, Rabobank's stake will come down to 14.8 per cent. The collective holding of the promoter and promoter group companies will be reduced to 38.6 per cent, down from 52.13 per cent.

The holding of private equity investors will come down to 18.5 per cent from 25 per cent.

Speaking on the bank's business plans, Kapur said that the bank's corporate book currently stands at around Rs 1,250 crore. The bank has 30 retail banking licences in hand. At present, the bank has rolled out its retail operations in two branches "" Mumbai and Delhi. In the next six weeks, the bank plans to roll out five more branches.

The target consumer for the bank is the affluent and the mass affluent. The bank will expand its presence in tier II cities by partnering Rabobank.