Chawla may offload stake in Catholic Syrian Bank

NRI-businessman Surachan Chawla is likely to offload 14.5 per cent of the stake he holds in Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank to a clutch of foreign investors this week to adhere with the Reserve Bank's directive to reduce his holding in CSB.

The board of CSB is meeting tomorrow to consider and approve the share sale. Chawla, who holds 24.5 per cent stake in the private sector bank, was asked to bring down his holding to 10 per cent by the apex bank as it was not happy with a single party holding a significant stake.

"The board is meeting tomorrow to consider the sale or transfer of close to 15 per cent shares of Chawla. This is because the Reserve Bank wants him to reduce holding to 10 per cent," Catholic Syrian Bank Director C K Gopinath told PTI over phone.

Though Gopinath declined to divulge further details about the deal, it is understood that the NRI-investor has lined up around 10-15 Bangkok-based NRIs to sell less than one per cent stake to each.

The local catholic community under the Chairmanship of Archbishop, had formed an actions committee and received commitments for around Rs 250 crore to buy Chawla's shares and thereby ensure the control of the lender.

The group is still continuing negotiations with the NRI-investor, sources said.