PNB expects acquisition of Kazak bank by March 2011

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said it hopes to complete the acquisition of the Kazakhstan-based Dana Bank by the end of current fiscal.

"I think it is at the final stage of due diligence. We thought it would have been over by this time...We have to get approval from regulator of Kazakhstan, when the final due diligence is over," PNB Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath told reporters here.

"Let's hope," he said when asked if Dana Bank would come in PNB fold by the end of this fiscal.

PNB Board last year approved acquisition of 63.6 per cent stake Dana Bank for an estimated $24 million.

The acquisition of Dana bank would also allow PNB to penetrate in CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries.

Dana bank has five branches with a total business size of $60 million (around Rs 276 crore).

PNB has a representative office in Kazakh city Almaty. The bank, which is at present in eight countries, is planning to open few more offices overseas, including Shanghai.

It is also looking at setting up a subsidiary in Vancouver, Canada.