Jardine Sells Vysya Pie To Banks Local Promoters

Foreign institutional investor (FII) Jardine Fleming has offloaded its entire stake, close to four per cent in Vysya Bank Ltd (VBL), to the bank's Indian promoters. Bangalore-based GMR group, which held 23.34 per cent in the bank now holds 28.07 per cent as a result.

"We signed a memorandum of understanding with the FII that prompted them to offer the stake to the Indian promoters as it chose to offload its holding in the bank," explained managing director K Balasubramanian.

The higher shareholding in the hands of GMR is expected to facilitate the transfer of equity to Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL), which is interested in getting management control of this Bangalore-based bank.

 

BBL was expected to pick up more shares from the market upto the limit permitted by the apex bank and thus gain management control. However, the details of the deal and the timeframe are yet to be fixed, informed Balasubramanian. Belgium based BBL currently holds 20 per cent in VBL.

BBL has picked up five per cent stake in Vysya Bank some time back. Later, it increased its stake to 20 per cent through its subsidiaries -- BBL Mauritius Holdings at 10.21 per cent and BBL Mauritius Investment at 9.79 per cent.

FIIs held 3.98 per cent in VBL till September 2001. This has come down to 0.89 per cent in January 2002. The total foreign holding in the company has also reduced to 34.13 per cent from 37.23 per cent in September last.

Public holding in the company is close to 24.5 per cent, while International Finance Corporation holds another 10 per cent in VBL. Institutional investors including FIIs hold 13.5 per cent.

Vysya Bank's excellent performance has prompted BBL to enhance its stake in the bank and now it wants to get the management control, said market sources. VBL is the largest private sector bank in terms of deposits and assets. It has a very high degree of retail focus with good customer service.

The bank's deposits registered a growth of 14 per cent last fiscal and stood at Rs 7,424 crore while advances grew 41 per cent to Rs 3,938 crore.