Yes Bank crisis: SBI to buy 49% stake for Rs 2,450 crore

Mumbai: The public sector State Bank of India is preparing to invest Rs 10,000 crore for a 49 per cent stake in the struggling Yes Bank under a bailout plan prepared by the Central Government. Addressing a press conference here today, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said his bank would initially invest Rs 2,450 crore for the 49 per cent stake. Admitting that funds infused by the SBI would not be adequate to cover Yes Bank losses, he said the state-owned bank was in touch with other investors. “.... 23 potential investors have approached us to invest....,” he said.

Those planning to invest more than 5 per cent would have to conform with the ‘fit and proper’ criteria formulated by the RBI. The SBI Chairman said that the capital required by Yes Bank may go up substantially.

Kumar said that his team was carrying out due diligence of Yes Bank books and a rescue plan would be ready by Monday. Responding to questions if the SBI was being pressured by the government, he said the private bank needed to survive.