|
Centurion
Bank asks Sabre to submit new plan for stake sale
Nisha
Das
3 April 2003
 Mumbai:
The private sector Centurion Bank has asked Sabre Capital
Wordwide Inc to submit a fresh proposal for picking up
a 26-per cent stake in the bank as the foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) of the bank have disagreed on several
clauses put forward by Sabre in its current proposal submitted
in February 2003.
Following
this, the Centurion Bank board has deferred its plans
to put up Sabre Capital’s proposal to its board for
approval, when it met for the yearend review. Sabre is
promoted by Rana Talwar.
“The
board did not discuss the Sabre proposal. We still have
to take a final view on the issue and might be ready to
go to the board possibly by the end of April,” says
a senior Centurion Bank official.
Sources
close to the development say the proposal in its present
form does not appeal to some of the bank’s shareholders.
The FIIs — Asian Development Bank, Keppel and IFC
— have taken exception to certain points and sought
several clarifications from Sabre.
 Centurion
Bank is in need of tier-I capital to the tune of Rs 150
crore. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is much
below the Reserve Bank of India-stipulated minimum of
9 per cent.
At
present, the foreign partners of the bank together hold
about 36-per cent stake. Sabre reportedly has been exploring
the option of buying a 5-per cent stake from IFC, which
currently holds around 10 per cent in the bank.
 Earlier,
several banks, including HDFC Bank, Citibank, Andhra Bank
and IndusInd Bank, were understood to have conducted a
due diligence with the intention of taking a stake in
the bank, but they pulled out.
List of reports
on Centurion Bank
List
of reports on Sabre Capital Wordwide Inc
List
of reports on M&A
|
