Private equity major Warburg Pincus, special situations fund AION Capital Partners and non-banking financial company InCred Finance are vying for a controlling stake in Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB), says a report in The Economic Times citing people aware of the matter.
The investors are expected to make formal offers by September, the report adds.
CVR Rajendran, chief executive officer of Catholic Syrian Bank, told the newspaper that the bank was evaluating all options for infusion of capital.
The development comes after negotiations between the private-sector lender and Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings hit a roadblock.
InCred founder and CEO Bhupinder Singh had told VCCircle earlier this month that the company was looking to shell out Rs 50-100 crore for acquisitions in the microfinance category and will buy one-two startups in the wheels financing segment for Rs 20-30 crore.
InCred Finance was incorporated last year and it raised about Rs 600 crore in August 2016 from former Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain, Manipal Group managing director Ranjan R Pai, Landmark Holdings founder Gaurav Dalmia, IDFC PE, Alpha Capital and Paragon Partners.
AION Capital Partners Ltd is a joint private equity fund sponsored and run by Apollo Global Management India Advisors Private Ltd and ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and stock exchanges have given a conditional go-ahead to the merger deal between Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone India Ltd, subject to the outcome of an investigation by the regulator and approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), says a Press Trust of India report.
SEBI said it had received a complaint alleging that one of the promoters of Idea Cellular had purchased 0.23% shares of the company before the announcement of the draft scheme of amalgamation and these transactions were in violation of securities laws. "The said allegations are being examined by SEBI,†it said.
After receiving a no-objection letter from SEBI and the exchanges, Idea Cellular filed an application before NCLT on Monday for approval of the merger.
The Competition Commission of India approved the merger last month.
In March, Vodafone’s India unit and Idea Cellular Ltd agreed to merge in a transaction that will create the country’s biggest telecom operator, valued at $23.2 billion.
