Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Dec 05, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Dec 05, 2003 |
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Money & Banking
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Private Banks Markets - Open Offers BankMuscat, Sabre, Keppel sign pact for Centurion Bank Our Bureau
Mr Rana Talwar, Chairman, Sabre Capital Worldwide Inc (left), with Mr Sheikh AbdulMalik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Chairman of BankMuscat, at the signing of shareholders agreement in Mumbai on Thursday. — Shashi Ashiwal
Mumbai , Dec. 4 THE Oman-based BankMuscat, Rana Talwar-headed, Sabre Capital Worldwide Inc, and Keppel Corporation of Singapore on Thursday signed the shareholder agreement of Centurion Bank. The final approval for the scheme of recapitalisation of the NPA-ridden Centurion Bank is expected from the Reserve Bank of India soon. RBI approval will be followed by a notice to the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the first funds infusion of Rs 154 crore will take place after which will be the Rs 65 crore rights issue, said Mr Rana Talwar, Chairman, Sabre Capital Worldwide, at a press conference here today. Mr Talwar, former head honcho of Standard Chartered Bank worldwide, will soon take over as Chairman of Centurion Bank following the retirement of the incumbent CMD, Mr V. Janakiraman. While the initial capital infusion is expected to be soon after regulatory approvals are in place, the open offer is timed to be between January and March 2004. Earlier, there had been reports that Centurion Bank was asked to conduct the rights issue ahead of the first capital infusion by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to comply with the existing foreign investment limits, which were dismissed as `speculative reports' today. It is known that Centurion Bank has withdrawn the application from FIPB. The shareholding pattern following the capital infusion and the rights issue will be: BankMuscat 26 per cent, Keppel 11 per cent, public 28 per cent, FIIs 18 per cent, Sabre Capital 7 per cent, ADB & IFC 4 per cent, trust holding former promoter's stake 6 per cent. However, officials declined to spell out the exact nature of the FII and FDI break-up at the press briefing on the pretext that final RBI approval is still awaited. Mr Talwar stated that all investment would be done in compliance with the regulatory limits on foreign investment. The board of the bank is to be reconstituted soon and will have Mr Talwar as the Chairman, two nominees from BankMuscat, two from Sabre, one from Keppel and the rest independent directors. The search for a CEO for the bank is on and names have been short-listed, said Mr Talwar.
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