SBI, associate banks in demand; surge 20% on merger clearance

SBI and its subsidiaries witnessed hectic buying today, surging up to 20 per cent, after the Cabinet gave go-ahead to the merger of five associate banks with the parent that would make the state-owned firm a global- sized bank.
Shares of State Bank of Mysore jumped 20 per cent to Rs 547.90, State Bank of Travancore zoomed 19.99 per cent to Rs 478.90 and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur soared 19.99 per cent to Rs 599.60 on BSE.
All these banks hit their highest trading permissible limit for the day on the bourse.
The scrip of State Bank of India also moved up by 3.90 per cent to Rs 215.65.

The Cabinet today gave go-ahead to the merger of State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate lenders that would make the state-owned lender a global-sized bank.
India's largest lender had last month mooted the proposal for merger of its five subsidiary banks with itself and acquisition of the newly set up Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

SBI has five associate lenders -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.
Among the associate banks, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed.

The merged entity will become a banking behemoth, which could compete with the largest banks in the world, with an asset base of Rs 37 trillion (Rs 37 lakh crore) or over USD 555 billion, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs with over 50 crore customers.