India cenbank identifies eligible bidders for IDBI Bank stake sale - sources

IDBI Bank

01/08/2024 10:55

By Siddhi Nayak and Nikunj Ohri
       MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of
India has completed its review of potential buyers for a
majority stake in IDBI Bank  IDBI.NS , approving Fairfax
Financial Holdings, Emirates NBD and Kotak Mahindra Bank
 KTKM.NS  as bidders, three sources aware of the development
said on Thursday.
    The Indian government, which owns 45.48% in IDBI Bank, and
state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India  LIFI.NS  which holds
49.24%, together plan to sell 60.7% of the lender. The sale
process was first announced in 2022.
    The sources did not wish to be identified as the discussions
are not public. The finance ministry, RBI, Fairfax Financial
Holdings, Emirates NBD and Kotak Mahindra Bank did not
immediately reply to Reuters emails seeking comments.
    The bidders are talking to the Indian government and will
get access to IDBI Bank's private data after evaluation, one of
the sources said.
    Reuters had earlier reported interested buyers include
Emirates NBD and Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa. 
    Toronto-based Fairfax India Holdings is backed by Canadian
billionaire Prem Watsa and invests in public as well as private
equity securities and debt instruments in India.
    Emirates NBD Group offers financial services with operations
in UAE, India and Saudi Arabia, among others. 
    The government would likely open bids for the lender before
the end of the financial year, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the country's
secretary responsible for the stake sale, had said last week.

 (Reporting by Siddhi Nayak in Mumbai and Nikunj Ohri in New
Delhi; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
 ((Siddhi.Nayak@thomsonreuters.com; +91 22 6921 7848; Twitter: https://twitter.com/siddhiVnayak))