Multiple investors good for YES Bank: Rana Kapoor

Private sector lender YES Bank says it will prefer multiple investors to replace Rabobank, which holds a 15.9 per cent stake in the bank, as it will result in more liquidity for the stock.

Speculations are rife that Dutch lender Rabobank is planning to sell its stake in YES Bank, as it plans to enter India through the branch banking route. The company (through RaboBank International Holding BV) holds about 54 million shares, worth about $400 million, in Yes Bank, informed Rana Kapoor, founder, managing director and CEO of YES Bank.

“Rabobank has been a passive investor in YES Bank. At present, the YES Bank stock does not have enough volumes. If the 15.9 per cent stake of Rabobank gets spread over two to five investors, the stock will get more velocity and churn,” said Kapoor on the sidelines of an event to inaugurate its North East and West Bengal banking operations.

The stake sale, at the present market value, would result in a net capital gain of $300 million for Rabobank, he added. “If Rabobank monetises its stake at current value, the net capital gain for them would be $300 million,” said Kapoor.

YES Bank has chalked out an aggressive expansion plan, whereby it plans to have strong retail portfolio and open 100 new branches in the next one year. On the base rate implementation, Kapoor said private sector banks needed to be defensive, so that they didn’t lose out customers in segments like priority sector lending.

“Overall, I think the base rate of private sector banks will be lower than that of the public sector banks,” Kapoor said.