(Reuters) -India’s competition regulator said on Tuesday it had approved Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s stake purchase in Indian lender Yes Bank.
SMBC in May had inked a deal to take a 20% stake in Yes Bank for $1.6 billion, making it the largest cross-border merger and acquisition deal in India’s financial sector.
The Japanese lender had agreed to buy a 13.19% stake from State Bank of India and an aggregate 6.81% stake from Axis Bank , Bandhan Bank , Federal Bank, HDFC Bank , ICICI Bank , IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
In August, SMBC received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to buy up to a 24.99% stake in Yes Bank.
The Indian central bank also decided that SMBC will not be treated as Yes Bank’s “promoter” – an Indian term for large shareholders – following the deal, Yes Bank had disclosed in an exchange filing.
The deal would have involved additional regulatory requirements if SMBC was considered a promoter.
(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
