SIB to issue rights shares

South Indian Bank (SIB), the Thrissur-based private sector bank, will launch a rights issue of 2 crore shares, according to its chairman V A Joseph.

The shares will be issued as private placements, either through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route or by preferential allotment or a combination of both. The issue would be completed by September this year.

SIB will appoint the merchant bankers to the issue by this weekend. Addressing a press conference here today, Joseph said that the bank is ready to expand the FII holding through the rights issue as FIIs already hold 43 per cent.

"We are open to Indian and foreign investors as the capital adequacy ratio should be maintained at 13 per cent, since we target total business of Rs 25,000 crore by end of the current financial year." he added.

Big corporates and insurance companies have reportedly shown an interest in associating with the bank's capital raising exercise and this led to the recent rise in the bank's share price.