Catholic Syrian Bank plans to raise Rs 500 crore, investors shown interest include Fairfax

The bank said existing investors would continue and it would dilute fresh equity for the proposed fund raising

Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) is planning to raise around Rs 500 crore from three to four investors, including Prem Watsa-led Fairfax Financial Holdings. The bank, which dropped its IPO plan, said existing investors would continue and it would dilute fresh equity for the proposed fund raising.

Catholic Syrian Bank's Chairman S Santhanakrishnan said: "The Bank constantly requires capital and we would like to put large capital infusion by approaching various institutions, including Fairfax. We would like to have at least in excess of Rs 500 crore."

The Bank is talking to three or four investors for the new capital, which will support Bank's growth plan.

As on March 31, 2015, there are about 21 shareholders who have more than 1% stake in the Bank. The top investors include non-resident Indian (NRI) businessman Yusuff Ali M A with 4.985% stake, who is the managing director of Abu Dhabi-based Emke Group that operates LuLu hypermarkets and supermarkets in West Asia, followed by Kerala-based The Federal Bank with 4.617% stake.

The other investors include GPE III Mauritius Direct Investment, AIF Capital Development, SIguler Guff BRIC Mauritius, Agnus Capital, Edelweiss Finance and Investments and others.

The HNI investors in the Bank include Gopinathan CK, Anitha PV, Lal Arakulath Sankappa, Thomas John Muthoot, among others.

The Bank has reported a loss of Rs 150 crore in 2015-16 and the balance sheet is almost cleaned up, said Santhanakrishnan. "Whatever money comes in now will henceforth go towards growth," he said.

CSB is one of India's oldest private sector banks with its headquarter in Thrissur, Kerala. For over nine decades, the Bank remained a neighbourhood bank for its growing fraternity of customers. The company has a strong base in Kerala, along with significant presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Key focus areas of the Bank were small and medium enterprises (SME), retail clients and NRI customers. The Bank has a strong deposit book as most of its NRI customers and expatriates working in the Gulf remit their money back home to India.