Cosmos Co-op Bank to acquire 3 banks in Guj/AP

Cosmos Co-operative Bank has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to acquire three co-operative banks.

Cosmos will acquire two Gujarat-based banks - Co-operative Bank of Ahmedabad and Unnati Co-Operative Bank and one in Andhra Pradesh - the Secundarabad-based Annapoorna Mahila Cooperative Bank.

Shashikant Bugde, managing director of Cosmos Bank, said the acquisiton will add 25 branches to the existing network. "We are entering Ahmedabad and Baroda for the first  time. Out of the 16 branches of Co-operative Bank of Ahmedabad spread across the city of Ahmedabad, we are planning to shift two branches to Wapi and Rajkot, respectively, which will help Cosmos Bank to cover the entire state. We would be sending a request to the RBI to allow us to shift the licences of these two branches soon. We are also entering Andhra Pradesh for the first time with the acquisition of Annapurna."

Mukund Abhyankar, chairman of Cosmos Bank, said there was no issue about Unnati Bank, which is a profit-making bank. Co-operative Bank of Ahmedabad and Annapurna Mahila Bank are, however, doing business with negative balances of Rs 20 crore and Rs 20 lakh, respectively. "Co-operative Bank of Ahmedabad has an outstanding debt of Rs 74 crore. Even if we manage to recover half of it, we would be able to recover our entire cost of acquisition," Abhyankar said.

Cosmos Bank has also received clearance from the RBI for opening offsite ATM centres. "These ATMs would be installed at shopping malls and several other places. We have asked approval to set up five such offshore ATMs in Pune and Mumbai. We would also be coming up with a mobile ATM centre, mainly to cater to the rural market," Abhyankar added.