SBI has not decided on selling 26% stake in YES Bank, says report

SBI is allowed to reduce the stake in the YES Bank at the end of Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23) but it may not decide about that this financial year due to volatile market conditions

State Bank of India (SBI), which currently holds 26 per cent stake in the YES Bank, will not take a decision to sell its stake this year. SBI is helping YES Bank in dealing with the private lender’s non performing assets (NPA).

SBI is allowed to reduce the stake at the end of Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23) but it may not decide about that this financial year due to volatile market conditions, the 'Times of India' reported on Monday. SBI, the largest public sector lender in the country, is also unlikely to list any of its subsidiaries on the bourses, this year.

The report added that the bank plans to list its non-life insurance arm, SBI General Insurance, this financial year. It was also looking to dilute its stake in the mutual funds arm, SBI Funds Management. These will be put off till the market situation improve.

After a follow-on public offer (FPO) in 2020, SBI’s stake in YES Bank fell to 30 per cent and it now holds 26 per cent stake in YES Bank. After the lock-in period ends, the stake can be reduced to below 26 per cent, but it too has been postponed.

Also read: YES Bank's stressed loan portfolio: Understanding what went wrong at lender

The Times report quoted SBI chairman Dinesh Khara as saying that if market conditions prevail, the bank is 'unlikely' to take the subsidiaries public. On YES Bank, Khara said that a call will need to be taken at the board level.

The report added that a listing of SBI subsidiaries would forth the true valuation of the lender. Currently, SBI has a market cap of Rs 4.3 trillion. SBI Life has a market cap of Rs 1.2 trillion.

If other subsidiaries are listed, it will raise the market cap of the firm to a much higher level.

On March 5, 2020, the RBI superseded the bank's Board of Directors and capped the withdrawals to Rs 50,000. It also asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to get a 49 per cent stake in the bank for restructuring it.

RBI also appointed Prashant Kumar, a former senior executive at SBI, as an administrator at YES Bank. He later became the bank's CEO on March 6, 2020.

The SBI has appointed JCF ARC LLC and JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Private Limited (JC Flowers ARC) to help it sell the bad loans at YES Bank.