Banking on efficiency

HDFC Bank will benefit from higher scale

The merger between giant mortgage lender HDFC and its group company, leading private bank HDFC Bank, sets all kinds of records. It creates a financial services giant with advances amounting to nearly Rs 18 trillion, assets under management of over Rs 25 trillion, a net worth of over Rs 3 trillion, and the highest free-float market cap in India. Given that the group also controls a leading private insurance entity, and a top-rung mutual funds house, it’s a one-stop shop for financial services and products. The merged entity will be a very large bank, with investors in HDFC receiving 42